Family of Fire
by Dannrose
Summary: Several weeks after Cloudjumper took her, Berk is suddenly destroyed leaving Valka with six Viking babies and a baby Night Fury. With nowhere else for them to go she brings them back to the Sanctuary of the Bewilderbeast where they grow up among the dragons under his protection. Forging new bonds they live and grow creating a family like no other.
1. Prologue

_**Author's Note:**_

 _ **Hello everyone and I'm back with another AU creation. This universe is a different one from my 'Differently Similar' one and is drastically different from the movie-verse. I'm not entirely sure whether it'll be plot driven or a one shot series or where it's going to end up but any suggestions would be welcome as I continue it. I'll probably put the second chapter up very soon but until then I hope you enjoy this chapter.**_

 _ **I do not own any aspect of How to Train Your Dragon.**_

* * *

 **Prologue**

Since being brought to the Sanctuary several weeks ago Valka had often thought about Berk and her son Hiccup.

Every time she did her heart ached more and she kept asking herself if not going back was truly the right decision. She loved her son more than anything but she knew that if she went back she would never be able to harm a dragon, Hiccup and Stoick both nearly died the night she'd been taken because she couldn't do so and it was this that reminded her why she'd remained in the Sanctuary.

She sighed and a single tear drop ran down her face, movement caused her to look up and see the mighty Bewilderbeast looking at her. He was by far one of the largest dragons and was the unquestioned Alpha of the Sanctuary, in effect he was a dragon king and he could exert his will over other dragons if he so wished. However this king preferred to use gentle guidance instead of imperious command and while his power and leadership was absolute he was more of a protective guardian to the dragons of his realm. The Bewilderbeast gently placed one of his mighty tusks before Valka and she reached out and touched it, he gave a gentle rumble and she felt a small wave of comfort wash over her.

The sound of flapping wings and a soft thump announced the arrival of Cloudjumper, the very Stormcutter that had brought Valka to the Sanctuary in the first place. She stood up from where she'd been sitting and went to greet her dragon friend, unusually Cloudjumper gave her a series of frantic growls and she realised that he was trying to tell her something, "What is it Cloudjumper?"

The Stormcutter answered by crouching on the ground signalling her to mount him, when she was on his back Cloudjumper prepared his wings for flight and gave a series of growls and grunts to the watching Alpha. The king raised his head and gave a low roar and soon a Nightmare, a Zippleback, a Gronkle and a Nadder flew down to join them, Cloudjumper gave a few more growls and as one the dragons took to the air and winged their way out of the Sanctuary.

* * *

The flight was long even though the dragons flew as fast as they could and Valka wondered where they were going and what it was Cloudjumper desperately needed her to see. Eventually she found herself recognising the few landmarks in the ocean below and she realised where they were heading and dread filled her. Why would Cloudjumper want to take her back to Berk? Had something happened? Had he decided that she didn't belong in the Sanctuary after all? As Berk appeared on the horizon her blood ran cold.

The village was burning.

Fear crashed upon her and she willed Cloudjumper to fly faster as her head filled with thoughts of Hiccup and Stoick and she prayed she'd find them still alive. As the dragons swooped down towards the village she saw that it wasn't actually aflame but there wasn't a single house that hadn't been reduced to charred ruins and many were still producing smoke from the embers. The dragons landed in the village square and Valka leapt off Cloudjumper shouting desperately, "HICCUP! STOICK!"

She made to run to her old house when Cloudjumper firmly tugged her over towards the burnt out husk that was once the blacksmith. Her mind still whirling with the desire to find her child Valka tried to break away from her friend but a feeble wail cut through her thoughts and she sprinted towards the blacksmith. The wailing increased in volume as she approached and she easily recognised it as a child's, the other dragons were already there clearing away fallen beams and debris and they removed the last one just as she arrived revealing what was underneath.

An adult Night Fury.

Valka had never seen one before but she was certain the dragon before her couldn't be anything else, it had been pierced through the side by a massive spike of wood that went deep into the black body and this distracted her from trying to work out how a Night Fury had ended up here. She knew that the dragon wasn't going to survive and she knelt down beside the dying Night Fury, a pair of deep green eyes stared at her and she could clearly see the pain and sorrow they held as she gently stroked the dark head, "I'm sorry."

The dragon rumbled weakly and then used the last of its strength to unfurl its tightly wrapped wings. The constant wails suddenly became louder and Valka was meet with the sight that brought tears of relief, sorrow and grief to her eyes.

It was a baby Night Fury curled around six babies.

One was unmistakably Hiccup and the others she recognised as Fishlegs, Astrid, Ruffnut and Tuffnut, the last one was barely a week old and she'd never seen him before but she was certain he was her nephew. How they'd ended up in the wings of a Night Fury she couldn't even begin to guess but she knew that they were only alive because of the dragon, "Thank you."

The Night Fury gave another rumble at her tearful words and the jade eyes slid slowly closed and the dark body went still. The other dragons lowered their heads respectfully and Valka wiped away her tears before turning her attention to the children, her initial thought was to pick up Hiccup and hold him close but he wasn't crying and his tiny arms were wrapped around the little Night Fury babe as he slept peacefully. Instead she turned her attention to her nephew, who was the one crying as the others slept like Hiccup, and gently rocked him, his wails continued despite her efforts until the Monstrous Nightmare that had come with them lowered his head beside the infant's. Upon seeing the dragon the boy began to settle and focused all his attention on the dragon, the Nightmare gently lowered his snout and nuzzled him causing the boy to give a happy gurgle.

Looking down at him Valka understood exactly what Cloudjumper had brought her here for and she knew what she now needed to do.

* * *

 _ **PS-So there we go, one brand new AU. Please let me know what you thought and what you'd like to see.**_


	2. Ten Years On

_**Author's Note:**_

 _ **Hello and here is the second chapter straight after the first. This is largely setting up how things work in the Sanctuary and I've created my own version of exactly how dragon society works. Expect characters to be OOC because they've grown up in a completely different environment than the films but I'll try and keep some aspects of their original personalities there. Thank you for the support you've shown in just the few hours since I first published and I hope you enjoy the chapter.**_

 _ **I own nothing.**_

* * *

 **Ten Years On**

Dawn broke over the ocean its rays turning great pillars of ice pink as they touched them. They sparkled above the calm sea making the Sanctuary of the Bewilderbeast look like some enchanted castle in the clear morn.

Within its walls of ice and stone, in one of many caves two adult Monstrous Nightmares slept curled together. This particular male and female had been mated for many years and one of their offspring, a young male, was sleeping in a cave beside theirs, all was peaceful until the sound of pattering feet was heard and a red headed ten year old boy ran into the cave. The female Nightmare lifted her head and looked at the newcomer seeming to give the child a smile, the boy smiled back before turning his eyes to between the two dragons and huffing impatiently. He took a deep breath before yelling in a voice that far belied his slight build, "SNOTLOUT ITS MORNING!"

A groan sounded from within the two dragon's huddle and the head of a dark haired boy poked out from between them. He gave a huge yawn before addressing the other boy sleepily, "Hiccup, it's far too early to be waking up."

Hiccup bounced up to him, "C'mon Snotlout, don't you remember what's happening today?"

Snotlout rubbed his eyes tiredly, "No, not really."

Hiccup sighed in exasperation, "Mom's taking us on a field trip to Healers Island. We're supposed to be leaving soon."

The other boy blinked at him for a moment then suddenly realised what he meant. Snotlout's eyes widened and he rapidly began extracting himself from between the two Nightmares, "Hang on I'm just coming…oops…sorry dad."

Snotlout had unintentionally kicked the male dragon in the head as he hurriedly clambered out of his dragon cocoon, the Nightmare gave his adopted human son a slightly disgruntled growl before trying to return to his disturbed sleep. His mate gently got up and grabbed a shirt from the cave's corner in her mouth and gave it to her son before doing the same with a pair of boots, quickly whipping both shirt and boots on Snotlout yelled towards the next door cave, "Hey Hookfang, we need to get going!"

The young Nightmare ambled out and gave the boy a good morning nuzzle, Snotlout returned his brother's greeting and then turned to Hiccup, "Well we're ready, let's go!"

They were met outside by Toothless, Hiccup's adopted brother and the Sanctuary's only Night Fury, and he bounded up to them happily, he exchanged good morning nuzzles with Hookfang and Snotlout before running off ahead of them down towards the bottom level of the Sanctuary.

They quickly followed him and it wasn't long before they joined the group of humans and dragons that had gathered beside a deep pool. Valka, the only human adult, smiled knowingly, "It looks like Hiccup was successful in waking you up Snotlout."

The dark haired boy shuffled guiltily, "I'm sorry Auntie, I'm not often up this early and I forgot to tell mom."

"How could you forget?" a blonde haired girl asked, "We've done nothing but talk about this trip for the last few days."

"I remembered we were leaving early Astrid." Snotlout protested, "I just didn't think to tell mom that."

Astrid rolled her eyes as her Nadder sister, Stormfly, did the same, "You'd probably forget your head if it wasn't attached."

Snotlout stuck his tongue out at the girl and Valka sighed at their antics, "Let's focus children, now that everyone's here will someone quickly recap what we're doing today…Fishlegs."

The oldest of the kids spoke, "We're flying out to Healers Island where we're going to try and correctly identify different plants and their properties."

Valka smiled, "Thank you Fishlegs that's exactly what we will be doing. Now it's quite a long flight and we're going further than any of you have before so I want you all to remain close to me and Cloudjumper…yes Fishlegs?"

Fishlegs lowered his raised hand, "Umm…Meatlug can't fly for as long as the others." his Gronckle sister growled in agreement as he continued, "So can we stop for a rest along the way?"

"Don't worry Fishlegs I've already chosen a couple of rest points along the way, that's why we're leaving so early. Any other questions?" She looked around the group and satisfied that they had no questions for her she expertly climbed onto Cloudjumper's back, "Now as I've already said stay close to me and Cloudjumper and don't go flying off on your own, Ruff, Tuff, Barf, Belch I especially mean you four." The twins and their Zippleback sibling wilted slightly at this while the others nodded in agreement and Valka finished, "So let's get into the sky."

The six kids gave a small cheer before climbing onto their dragon brother or sister and soon they were all in the sky following closely behind Valka and Cloudjumper.

* * *

True to her word Valka did stop them for a rest several times and it was a couple of hours before they reached Healers Island.

The kids called to each other excitedly as they flew, they'd hadn't ever been far from the Sanctuary before and although Valka had taught them about the outside world they'd never really seen it so they couldn't wait to see even just a small bit of it. They pointed and gaped at the scenery below as it passed beneath them and they would occasionally swoop low whenever a particular sight such as a school of dolphins caught their interest.

Eventually they reached their destination and they landed roughly near the centre of the island. From there Valka divided them into two teams and sent them out to find specific herbal plants within a certain area, Snotlout was with Hiccup, Fishlegs, Toothless, Meatlug and of course Hookfang and the six of them padded excitedly into the surrounding trees.

Snotlout briefly paused and sniffed the air taking in all the new scents. Scent was an important part of being a dragon and their language and while an actual dragon's sense of smell would always be superior to theirs the six kids could smell things better than many humans. Living among dragons since being a baby had helped them develop their skills in detecting and identifying scents simply because it was natural to the families that had raised them. On top of that it seemed that many dragons had a sort of very minor telepathy allowing them to almost sense the emotions of others and kind of communicate, it wasn't so much how they communicated but was just another part of dragon communication that worked with sound and scent to create dragon language. These abilities had also developed within the kids through long, close contact with their adoptive dragon parents and combined with the language Valka had taught them enabling them to easily communicate with the dragons of the Sanctuary. None of the kids actually realised that these skills weren't normal among humans, they used them in everyday life and it was all completely natural to them and although Valka had sort of noticed it she wasn't really sure and hadn't said anything about it.

As Snotlout took in the new scents he sensed his brother's amusement and he turned to Hookfang, "What? You know I haven't gone as far from home as you have."

Hookfang grunted and conceded the point, although he was only a year older than his human brother, dragons grew quicker than humans even though they lived as long. This meant that while he was still 'young' Hookfang was considered an adult dragon while Snotlout was still a 'hatchling' because of a human's slower development. This allowed Hookfang more freedom to go further from the Sanctuary than his brother who, like the other kids, wasn't allowed to go that far from home or leave without being accompanied by at least one 'elder' dragon. This was the same for the other dragons and many of them had travelled further than their human siblings.

Turning back from the Nightmare, Snotlout sniffed the air again and tried to identify some of the scents, the ones of his friends and brother were easy but others were more difficult. He recognised pine from when Valka had brought some pine wood back to make some wooden dishes and he could pick out a faint whiff of elderberries but many were too faint for him to identify or he just didn't recognise them. Hiccup and Fishlegs were doing the same as him but Hiccup soon got them back on track, "We should probably find those herbs."

Agreeing, Snotlout and Fishlegs joined him and the group of kids and dragons carried on into the forest. They hadn't been searching long when Toothless suddenly stopped and growled. Instantly everyone tensed and cautiously sniffed the air, Snotlout ran through the scents and identified a faint trace of something he'd rarely encountered.

Metal.

They all knew that metal was normally found on or near humans and that immediately put them on edge. Valka had clearly said that many humans would attack dragons on sight and she'd warned them not to get near them at all, one shared look was enough to agree to get back to Valka straight away and they turned away from the metal scent only to stop in surprise and fear as the saw a whole group of human men standing there staring at them.

One of the men stepped forward, "Well, wot do we 'ave 'ere?"

* * *

 _ **PS-So some hefty explanation of how things work and I hope it all made sense. Please let me know what you thought and I'll try and update soon.**_


	3. Humans

_**Author's Note:**_

 _ **Hello everyone and welcome to chapter three. Firstly a big thanks for the response to this fic and I'm glad that people seem to like it and I hope you like this chapter as well. Secondly I'm still quite open to suggestions for where this story will go, I have my own ideas but if there's anything you'd particularly want to see let me know. I know that at least a couple of you want to know what actually happened to Berk and I will get to that but at the moment I'm trying to build up this AU and how dragon society works and how the kids relate to the different things around them. Now without further ado let's move onto the chapter.**_

 _ **I own nothing.**_

* * *

 **Humans**

Within seconds Hookfang had positioned himself between Snotlout and the men and the Nightmare gave a low threatening growl, Fishlegs had given a high pitched squeak and hidden behind Meatlug while Toothless curled protectively around Hiccup.

A few of the men clutched the weapons they were holding nervously but their apparent leader stepped forward confidently, "Dragons protecting a bunch of kids, now that's something ye don't see every day."

He made to step forward again but a plasma blast from Toothless impacted by his feet forcing him to stop. The three boys began slowly backing away sensing that was what their siblings wanted them to do and the dragons moved forward threateningly to distract the men. Suddenly Snotlout bumped into something solid and a beefy arm instantly lifted him off the ground, pinning his upper body as it did so. A heavy scent of sweat and dirt filled his nostrils and he yelped in fear just before a large hand clamped over his mouth.

At Snotlout's yelp all the dragons looked his way and Hookfang angrily roared at the man holding his brother but was wary about making a move in case he hurt the boy. Toothless' eyes darted between Snotlout's captor and the other men while the others were torn between trying to help their captive friend and getting Valka's aid.

They found themselves in a standoff and the two parties eyed each other as the men's leader addressed the one holding Snotlout, "Nice work Bogster, keep a tight hold of that brat, 'is Majesty will be interested in 'im and the others."

His men moved slowly forward and Toothless and Meatlug growled warningly while Hookfang inched closer to his captured brother, Snotlout tried struggling in his captor's grip but he was being held to tightly for it to do much. As he struggled he hoped that Hiccup and Fishlegs would run while they still could and get his Aunt but the fear he was giving off held them back from doing so. Suddenly Snotlout stopped struggling as a new scent trickled through the overpowering one of the man holding him and he recognised it straight away, the others had as well and they tensed ready for what was about to happen. Only the sudden beating of wings alerted the men and by then it was too late.

Cloudjumper struck like a thunderbolt and latched his claws onto the man holding Snotlout, the captor became the captive and he dropped the boy in surprise as he rose into the air. The other men charged forward but the Stormcutter deftly tossed his burden into them as Valka yelled from where she balanced expertly on his back, "EVERYONE IN THE AIR NOW!"

Hookfang grabbed his brother, tossed him onto his back and powered into the sky after the others. Astrid and her team were already there and the whole group shot off in the direction of the Sanctuary.

* * *

On the ground the men's leader roughly shoved men off him and stood to see that both children and dragons had long since vanished, he slammed his hand against a nearby tree angrily, "Dammit!" He took a breath, "The King is not gonna be 'appy."

"Why not?" one of his men asked, "There's plenty of other dragons. We can just catch one of them."

"Idiot!" the leader snapped, "The dragons were just a bonus, it's the kids who were the real prize. Don't ye see? Those dragons were protecting them like they were their own kind, that makes them unique and a threat to 'is Majesty and 'e's gonna want to know about them immediately."

He looked back into the sky, "Just ye wait kids, our King will want ye and yer dragons and 'e always finds a way to get what 'e wants."

* * *

Valka's group had flown back to the Sanctuary without stopping and although it greatly tired some of the dragons they pushed on eager to get home quickly.

Within record time the Sanctuary appeared on the horizon and they shot into it heading straight for its centre. As if aware that something had happened the Bewilderbeast was waiting for them in his pool and they landed before him, other dragons had sensed something was up and the adoptive parents of the kids were all present. Snotlout's parents headed straight for their son, he was still badly shaken from what happened and the Nightmares could sense it. His mother nuzzled and crooned at him as he cuddled into her side while his father listened as Cloudjumper related that day's events to the Alpha.

There was a cacophony of shocked and concerned growls from the assembled dragons and those whose children had been involved pulled them a little closer, the Bewilderbeast gave a low rumble and silence fell as he scanned the kids to make sure they were unharmed before he addressed his flock. Calm radiated from him and the worry, concern and, in some cases, anger greatly decreased as he made his point. When he'd finished the dragons bowed in respect to his wisdom and they gradually dispersed, some left in groups to patrol the waters around the Sanctuary while others returned to the daily business of living. Snotlout's parents gently carried him back to their cave closely followed by Hookfang while Astrid went with Stormfly, her two younger Nadder brothers and her father to their own home. As Fishlegs and Meatlug were swarmed by their six Gronkle sisters and worried parents and Ruffnut, Tuffnut and Barf and Belch were shepherded off by their Zippleback mother, Hiccup, Toothless, Valka and Cloudjumper remained where they were.

Hiccup looked worriedly up at his mother, "Mom?"

She looked down, "Yes Hiccup?"

"Are all other humans bad like those men?"

Valka thought carefully before answering, "No Hiccup, humans can be bad or good the same way dragons can be bad or good."

"Then why do you tell us to stay away from all humans?"

She sighed, "Because although many people are good they see dragons as nothing but animals or monsters and they attack them whether for glory, out of anger or in perceived defence." She placed a hand on his shoulder, "They can't see dragons the way you and the others do because they haven't grown up among them like you have and that's why I tell you to stay away." She gestured around them, "Here we're all family and we have to protect our own."

Hiccup thought about her words for a moment then he smiled and gave her a hug which she returned. As they embraced they didn't notice the Bewilderbeast also watching and give a small smile of his own.

* * *

 _ **PS-So that's them back safe and sound and once again thank you for your continued support of this story. Please let me know what you thought or if you have any suggestions about plot, writing etc. and I hope to see you soon.**_


	4. Concerns, Reports and New Missions

_**Author's Note:**_

 _ **Hello everyone and welcome to chapter four. Please bear with me through this long author's note but I've got nine OC slots in this fic and I was wondering if any of you would like to create an OC to fill them. If you do then please read the rules/guidelines below and if you don't then you can just skip straight to the actual chapter.**_

 _ **OC Rules/Guidelines**_

 _ **1\. All the OCs will be antagonists at first. That may change through the course of the story but that is how they'll be at first.**_

 _ **2\. No dragon riders. There's on OC someone's already suggested to me who will be but the nine I'm looking for will not be dragon riders as that ability is kind of unique to Valka and the kids.**_

 _ **3\. When submitting an OC please stick to Physical Appearance, Personality and Age, which is to be ten or above, only. Please don't specify any form of relationship with any of the canon characters as I'd prefer to sort that bit out myself. You can specify where they're from but it cannot be Berk**_

 _ **4\. Two of them will be twins so if you don't mind your OC being twinned with another than please say so or even submit two characters as twins.**_

 _ **5\. Try and be as clear about your OC as possible, if you don't specify something like hair colour then I'll make that bit up myself.**_

 _ **6\. Please send your OC via PM since I'll try and tell you if I've chosen your OC and give you my reasons if you didn't. I understand that some people might want to suggest an OC but don't have an account in which case just use a review but I won't be able to give feedback.**_

 _ **7\. The closing date for OC submissions will be 11pm of Wednesday the 11**_ _ **th**_ _ **of November-British Time any after that will not be accepted.**_

 _ **So that's all for the OCs and PM me if you have any questions about them but a bit more detail of them will be briefly mentioned in this chapter. Thank you for your continued support of this fic and I hope you enjoy the chapter.**_

 _ **I own nothing.**_

* * *

 **Concerns, Reports and New Missions**

Constantly moving waves glistened silver in the moonlight around the Sanctuary, within its walls peace reigned as many of the dragons that called it home slept and dreamed peaceful dreams.

Valka silently wandered the tunnels and caverns of her home as her thoughts kept her from restful sleep. The events with the group of men on Healers Island had disturbed her and she was concerned about the one Hiccup had said they called 'Majesty'. She didn't know anything about this man but her instincts were telling her that he was dangerous and now he would know about Hiccup and the others. She feared that this man would start searching for the kids and she was scared that he would find the Sanctuary and take them away or worse.

Her wanderings brought her down to the edge of the Bewilderbeast's pool and she sat down on the ground in front of him. He was still awake and she looked up at him, "What's going to happen now? People now know about them and they've already tried to take them, what if they come here?" She looked down again, "I don't want to lose any of them."

The Bewilderbeast lowered his head and gently placed it in front of her and she stood and softly placed her hand against his scales, comfort and assurance washed over her and she gave a soft smile, "Thank you." She stood back, "They'll always be protected here, any dragon of the Sanctuary would do anything to keep them all safe. Whoever this 'Majesty' of theirs is we'll defeat him if he ever finds his way here."

The King smiled and gave a small nod confirming her words.

* * *

The same moon that shone upon the peace and safety of the Sanctuary also shone upon a place far more dark and dangerous.

An island consisting of jagged rocks and a myriad of tunnels and caves sat squarely in a sea filled with wicked rocks that could tear apart any vessel that drew too close to them. Roughly built walkways of wood and metal cut across the many chasms and gaps in the desolate landscape and connected the many furnaces and smiths that filled the area. Multitudes of chained men, women and children worked the island, mining with pickaxes for minerals and stone, pushing heavy metal carts across iron rails, lugging timber, farming the few fertile areas the island held, constructing buildings and creating tools and weapons. Dragons also worked with the humans dragging back breaking loads such as siege engines and dragon traps or constantly fuelling the furnaces with their flames. All were slaves and all worked under the constant watch of their harsh overseers who held whips and rods. Any of the overseers were more than happy to utilise these same whips and rods to strike anyone they decided was being slow or lazy in hope of gaining favour with their superiors and maybe even the notice of their King.

This place had once been Outcast Island but now it was simply called the Fortress but to those who were enslaved it was mostly called Hel.

* * *

At the centre of the island stood the Nest which was the home of the King and his top men and contained the main barracks of his army. In the grand entrance hall of the Nest stood Savage who had been the leader of the men that had attempted to capture the kids and dragons on Healers Island. He shuffled about nervously not knowing what reaction his report would bring and his apprehension only grew the longer he waited. Finally the doors at the far end of the hall opened and a women strode out, her dark hair was cut short and she wore a long leather coat, on her hands was a pair of thick leather gauntlets and on her feet were tough leather boots with bands of metal wrapped around them. Savage bowed his head as she approached and she stopped before him and gave him an imperious look, "Well, what's your report?"

Savage quickly gave it, "Me and my men were searching for more dragons on Healers Island milady when we found three kids. With them were three dragons and the dragons seemed to be 'ighly protective of the kids, they reacted like dragons do when you threaten their young."

The woman raised a disbelieving eyebrow, "I've never heard of anything like that before. Are you certain that was what you saw?"

"Yes milady," Savage answered, "It was like the dragons thought the kids were their own kind."

The woman turned away from him speaking almost to herself, "Interesting, dragons protecting humans as if they were their own. I didn't think such a thing was possible and it could even show they have an intelligence beyond what we thought they did." She suddenly turned back and addressed Savage, "Did you capture any of them? This needs further study and I'll need at least one of them to do that."

Savage shook his head fearfully, "No milady, we 'ad one when we were ambushed by another dragon bearing a woman on its back. They distracted us enough that they all escaped."

He cringed away as the woman strode up to him angrily, "You let them escape because you were distracted by one dragon!? I need at least one of those children or that woman for further study, if what you say is true then we need to know how it's happened. If it's a case of them knowing how to control dragons then that makes them a threat to his Majesty. He is the only one who should be capable of such a thing and we cannot allow anyone else to have such power."

Savage bowed pleadingly, "I understand milady, I'll take my men out again and we'll scour all the world to find them if we 'ave to and I'll make sure we bring at least one of them back 'ere."

She stepped back and regarded him for a moment before nodding, "Very well, you're primary mission is to capture one of the children you saw. We must know everything about them and why dragons would be protective of them. You'll start at Breakneck Bog, one of our scouts saw a Skrill near there and he thought it had a rider, if it does have a rider than they might well know about the children you saw. If it doesn't then the Skrill will be a valuable addition to our army but capturing one of those children takes priority."

Savage maintained his bowed position, "Of course milady, I'll ensure our mission is a success."

"There is also one other thing I'd have you do." Savage looked up and the woman gestured to the doors she'd come through before continuing, "The youngest of the Twelve Titans has just completed his Nest Training and is ready for real missions, his Majesty wanted him to accompany you on all your future missions for the duration of his Fledging. I'm sure you're aware that if you allow anything serious to happen to him during this time then his Majesty will punish you personally, a fate I'm certain you'd prefer to avoid."

Savage gulped and nodded before looking to the doors. The doors opened and out strode a dark-haired eight year old boy, he walked with eagerness and a childlike excitement and stood beside the woman confidently.

"Captain Savage, this is Gustav. The youngest of his Majesty's children the Twelve Titans."

* * *

 _ **PS-So I hope you enjoyed that and please let me know what you thought and PM me any OCs you want to submit. Hopefully see you soon.**_


	5. Rider and Titan

_**Author's Note:**_

 _ **Hello everyone and welcome to chapter five. Thank you everyone who has submitted OCs already and remember there is still time if anyone else wishes to suggest one, just remember the rules/guidelines detailed in the previous chapter. Many of you have probably realised that the OCs will all be members of the Twelve Titans briefly mentioned last chapter and this one gives a little more information about what makes them special. It also contains an OC suggested to me by**_ **the core of justice** _ **, he suggested this OC before I asked everyone else for their suggestions so this character does not take up one of the nine slots I have and breaks the rules I set out so please bear that in mind. Thank you for your continued support of this story and I hope you enjoy the chapter.**_

 _ **I own nothing.**_

* * *

 **Rider and Titan**

Several days had passed since the events of Healers Island and the kids had remained within the safety of the Sanctuary ever since then, many of them were quite content with this and neither Snotlout nor Fishlegs seemed eager to go beyond the Sanctuary walls anytime soon. Hiccup on the other hand was a different story and was persistently requesting permission to go flying with Toothless. Normally it wouldn't be an issue so long as an 'elder' dragon accompanied them but Valka had been highly wary of letting him go anywhere outside the Sanctuary in case there were more men like the ones they'd encountered. Eventually after much pleading, begging and slight whining on Hiccup's part she finally relented and agreed to his request so long as she and Cloudjumper accompanied them. Hiccup and Toothless readily accepted her conditions and the following day they left the Sanctuary early and flew out across the ocean.

* * *

The day was light and clear and they flew far in the favourable conditions as Hiccup and Toothless performed tricks and aerial acrobatics and in time Valka's own unease lessened and she and Cloudjumper soon joined them. Their destination was Breakneck Bog which Valka had initially planned to be Hiccup's second big trip away from the Sanctuary but the events of Healers Island had delayed it. She'd chosen Breakneck Bog because she knew that many humans avoided it saying it was cursed or inhabited by monsters, she'd discovered that it was actually home to a large pack of Smothering Smokebreath Dragons who loved metal and would steal it from any ships that came to close thus causing the rumours. She was confident this would make it human free and since they didn't have much metal with them then the Smokebreaths would leave them alone, it also gave Hiccup a chance to see a species of dragon he'd never encountered before and she knew he liked discovering new things.

They flew down towards the stone dip in the island that held the Smokebreath nest and landed a respectful distance away from the nest itself. They settled down to watch the comings and goings of the pack and while the Smokebreaths knew they were there they ignored their strange guests seeing that they had nothing they wanted and weren't being a threat.

As they watched, one particularly adventurous young dragon wandered cautiously over and looked up at Hiccup, the boy quickly took in the scents around him and singled out the young dragon's scent to commit it to memory. He crouched down and addressed the dragon, "You're really bold aren't you?"

The Smokebreath looked surprised, unlike the Sanctuary dragons he hadn't heard human speech before and he was confused at the unusual sounds and a bit unsure of this new creature. Hiccup could smell his apprehension and he gently held his hand before the dragon making sure to keep welcoming and friendly emotions at the forefront of his mind. The Smokebreath regarded him and his outstretched hand for a short while before slowly placing his head against the boy's open palm. Hiccup smiled and the dragon gave him another confused look at this bizarre facial movement before a call sounded from the nest that sent the young Smokebreath scurrying back to the pack. Hiccup looked up at his mother and Valka gave him a smile that was a mix of pride and happiness and he looked back to the nest to see the young Smokebreath telling what was likely his mother about the strange but friendly creature he'd found.

Suddenly an adult Smokebreath flew frantically into the nest and even from where he was Hiccup noticed the sudden change in the scents and emotions of the pack, what had previously been peaceful and calm suddenly became uneasy and restless and Hiccup knew something was wrong. Toothless gave a concerned rumble and Hiccup could tell his brother had noticed it as well, they both looked to Cloudjumper who'd begun shuffling uneasily and Hiccup addressed his mother, "Mom, something isn't right."

* * *

Within the forests of Breakneck Bog, Captain Savage crept along accompanied by Gustav and twelve men.

The eight year old boy moved eagerly and Savage was finding it hard to stop him from charging off on his own. They moved silently so as to not alert anyone or anything of their presence, they'd found the Skrill that had been spotted there but had maintained their distance and observed the creature to discover that it did indeed have a rider. Now they'd put into motion a plan to capture both dragon and rider and all of them were aware of what they had to do. As they approached the small cave that their targets were using the twelve men broke into smaller groups and positioned themselves at key points around the clearing in front of the cave as Savage and Gustav slowly approached its mouth. Conditions were on their side as they were downwind of the cave meaning that their scent was unlikely to be picked up by its occupants, both man and boy stopped just outside the cave and Savage quickly checked that his men were all ready before nodding to Gustav. The both took a deep breath before giving a highly realistic dragon roar directed straight into the cave.

The result was instantaneous as Gustav's roar was answered and the Skrill flew out of the cave towards them, Savage and Gustav dived either side of the dragon as the men leapt from hiding and expertly tossed ropes around it. The Skrill gave another roar and attempted to charge the men but they were prepared for it, almost as one they pulled the ropes hard tightening them and causing the dragon to crash to the ground. They swiftly began securing their prize as a shout rang out from the cave and a twelve year old sprinted out wielding a strange sword.

It was double-edged and completely black except for a red blood channel running down its centre, the boy himself had a mop of unruly red hair, dark eyes and weather beaten skin covered by a light weight, dark armour. He wielded his sword with more skill than a twelve year old should have and even in the midst of battle he gave off an aura of one that had gained his experience from great hardship. He sprinted towards the fallen Skrill and swung his blade at one of the men with terrifying conviction but Savage was ready for him. Intercepting the death blow, Savage grabbed the boy's arm and threw him onto the ground away from the dragon, the boy quickly recovered and levelled his blade at the captain, "Yer skills can't match mine Savage, I was beating ye when I was five and I'm surprised ye haven't already recognised me."

Savage eyes narrowed in confusion then widened in recognition, "Alister!"

The boy smiled cockily, "Ye got it! Now let Icebolt go or I'll cut down you and all yer men."

"Well that's not going to happen!"

Alister looked in the direction of the child-like voice to see a stream of fire coming straight towards him, it struck him dead on with only his armour saving him from instant incineration. The impact flung him backwards causing him to land hard on his back letting out cries of pain as he did so. Gustav stepped forward confidently, "I'm Gustav, one of the Twelve Titans and the only who'll be cut down is you because I've got something you don't."

Gustav grinned and held up his hand, instantly flames flared on it seeming to come from the boy's skin, "The Twelve Titans each have the abilities of a different dragon letting us match and even dominate the dragons, a gift first given to our father." Gustav bragged, "I hold the powers of the Monstrous Nightmare such as the Fire Coat." The flames on his hand died away leaving it completely unharmed, "You might be able to beat these guys but there's no way you can beat me."

As Alister struggled to sit up he was noticeably losing consciousness but he made to stand regardless of his injuries, suddenly a high pitched screech was heard and all the men shared a look of fear just before Savage yelled, "NIGHT FURY! GET DOWN!"

A blue blast impacted near them causing some of the men to drop some of the ropes holding the Skrill, feeling his bonds loosen the Skrill reared catching the others off guard and then fired a lightning bolt sending a couple flying. More blasts impacted throwing everyone into confusion as a Stormcutter swooped in and neatly plucked the almost unconscious Alister off the ground. The Skrill let lose a couple more bolts of lightning before taking to the sky after the Stormcutter holding his rider and by the time men had recovered from the swift attack all three dragons were long gone.

* * *

 _ **PS-So what do you think? Please let me know and OC suggestions are still welcome. Hopefully see you soon.**_


	6. Rider in the Sanctuary

_**Author's Note:**_

 _ **Hello everyone and welcome to chapter six of this story. In regards to OCs I'll be announcing who's OCs I've picked in the author's note for the next chapter and you have until tomorrow for any last minute OC submissions or added detail to ones you've already suggested. Thank you anyone who has submitted an OC and for your continued support of this story. I hope you enjoy the chapter.**_

 _ **I own nothing.**_

* * *

 **Rider in the Sanctuary**

Alister slowly came awake and found himself looking up at a rocky ceiling. He turned his head to the side and saw Icebolt staring at him in concern, the Skrill gently nuzzled him when he saw that his rider was awake and the boy gently lifted a hand to pet his dragon.

Movement caught the attention of both of them and they looked to the side to see a woman come in an entrance accompanied by a Stormcutter, Icebolt growled at her warningly but the Stormcutter gave a growl of his own cowing the Skrill slightly. The woman laid a gentle hand on the dragon's head and spoke, "It's alright Cloudjumper. I think he has every reason to be wary." She turned back to them and smiled, "Your friend's been very protective of you and has been hostile to several of the others which is why Cloudjumper is being a bit cold to him." She took a few steps forward and crouched down, "Could you tell me your names?"

Alister narrowed his eyes suspiciously, "Why should I tell ye anything when yer not telling me yer own name?"

The woman smiled again, "Sorry, my name is Valka and I'm guessing you've already worked out that this is Cloudjumper." She gestured to the Stormcutter behind her, "We and our sons rescued you from those men at Breakneck Bog and brought you back here to safety. Do you think you could tell us your names now?"

He regarded her suspiciously for a moment longer before answering, "I'm Alister and this is Icebolt." The Skrill gave another growl and crouched around his rider protectively, "Where are we?"

"The Sanctuary of the Bewilderbeast." Valka answered, "It's a place of safety for many dragons and our home, here dragons can grow and raise families in security beyond the reach of the humans that don't understand them." She gave him yet another smile, "You and Icebolt will be quite safe here, none in this nest will want to harm either of you." She stood, "Thankfully your armour protected you amazingly well so you haven't been badly injured so you can go out and explore if you want. I've left your sword in that corner over there but I think you should leave it there if you head out into the Sanctuary. The dragons know you're not a threat but they'll still be uneasy if you're wandering about with a weapon, especially if you go near any of their young so please leave it here."

Alister nodded, he knew full well that approaching a strange dragon while carrying a weapon was risky, "Don't worry, I know my way around dragons."

Valka briefly raised an eyebrow at his confident tone but carried on, "My son Hiccup is just outside with Toothless, he'll be happy to show you around and I think he's pretty eager to introduce you to the other children."

The boy's eyes widened in surprise, "Other children?"

She gave a short laugh, "Oh yes I forgot to explain. As well as Hiccup there's five other children here, two girls and three boys. They've been living here since they were babies so you're actually the first other human they've properly met, it took a lot of effort to stop them all swarming in here to see you when we first brought you here. They're really excited about meeting you and Icebolt because they also haven't seen a Skrill before either."

Alister found his mind whirling at this new information and Valka gave another laugh before calling behind her, "Hiccup, could you and Toothless come in here a minute?"

There was a pattering of feet and a ten year old hurried in closely followed by a Night Fury and Alister's jaw dropped while Valka spoke to her son, "Hiccup, this is Alister and the Skrill is Icebolt. Do you think you and Toothless could introduce them to the others?"

Hiccup grinned, "Sure thing Mom." He held out his hand to Alister, "Nice to meet you."

Alister silently took the offered hand and before he knew it he found himself being led outside to the rest of the Sanctuary.

* * *

Snotlout and Hookfang were wrestling or rather Snotlout was wrestling and Hookfang was humouring the boy's attempts.

If he used his full strength then Hookfang would easily beat his younger brother every time but the Nightmare rarely did so, partly to make sure he didn't hurt the boy but mostly because it was more fun. Snotlout was currently trying to pin Hookfang's head down and the Nightmare would let him almost manage it before freeing himself and forcing his brother to try again, Snotlout would instantly do so being too stubborn to give up and the cycle would begin again thus making the game sometimes last for hours at a time.

The others were nearby engaged in their own activities, Astrid and Stormfly were using a series of differently sized rocks and ice pillars as an obstacle course, Fishlegs and Meatlug were writing poems and the twins were planning something with Barf and Belch. Snotlout once again found Hookfang escaping his grip and he fell onto his back panting in exhaustion, he looked up at the Bewilderbeast who'd been watching them in amusement and spoke, "I can almost beat him Grandfather, I just need to grow a bit more."

'Grandfather' was the name all the kids called the Bewilderbeast and the dragon king had taken a liking to the title, he gave a low rumbling chuckle at Snotlout's words then noticed Hiccup and Toothless approaching with Alister and Icebolt. Snotlout sat up, saw them as well and waved at them, "Hiccup, Toothless! We haven't seen you guys all day."

Toothless bounded up to his human cousin and gave him his usual greeting nuzzle which Snotlout returned, Toothless then respectfully bowed to the Bewilderbeast before returning to his brother. Hiccup introduced the dumbstruck Alister to them all, "Guys this is Alister and Icebolt," he then addressed Alister while gesturing to the Bewilderbeast, "and this is Grandfather, the Bewilderbeast and the creator and Alpha of the Sanctuary. He protects everyone within the nest." Hiccup also bowed to the dragon king who gave him a welcoming smile before turning his eyes upon Alister.

While the Bewilderbeast regarded the new human thoughtfully the other kids had noticed their arrival and had come up to see him for themselves. Fishlegs was practically quivering with excitement at seeing a Skrill for the first time while Astrid was looking at Alister's black armour with interest, the twins were also admiring Icebolt and were quietly discussing how much firepower they thought he had and Snotlout began to acquaint himself with Alister and Icebot's scents feeling slightly suspicious of him. The first scent he picked up was metal simply because it was such a rare one for him to come across then he picked up the boy's own natural scent. Behind it was a very faint trace of another scent Snotlout felt like he recognised but it was too weak for him to identify, in fact he could only just sense it. The Skrill's scent was much stronger and was mixed with the boy's, Snotlout could also sense the dragon's emotions and knew that he was very wary of them, he was also highly protective and Snotlout was reminded of what his own parents were like with him.

Snotlout and Hookfang shared a quick look before he took a step towards them, Alister noticed and tore his eyes away from the Bewilderbeast to speak warningly, "I wouldn't do that. Icebolt can be really defensive and all the other humans we've met have tried to hurt us. There's no way any of ye kids could approach him safely."

Snotlout sensed stabs of irritation from the others at the way Alister had said 'kids' but he ignored them and continued approaching as Hiccup answered the other boy, "I wouldn't worry, Icebolt knows that Snotlout isn't a threat."

Alister gave a slight snort of disbelief, "And how would you know that? There's no way a kid like you could…"

He trailed off when he noticed that Snotlout was already right in front of Icebolt and the Skrill wasn't growling or being threatening, Snotlout looked up at the dragon and smiled then briefly lowered his head. Lightning returned the gesture and Snotlout stepped back and grinned at Alister as the boy gaped, "There's no way ye should have been able to do that!" He then composed himself and looked away and shrugged, "He only let ye get that close because I'm here, ye got lucky that's all."

Snotlout frowned at his tone and Hiccup quickly started introducing the others, "Well Alister it looks like Icebolt has met Snotlout so I'll introduce the others. The Nightmare behind Snotlout is Hookfang and beside him is Fishlegs and Meatlug, Astrid is the girl by the Nadder who's called Stormfly, the twins are Ruffnut and Tuffnut and the Zippleback with them is called Barf and Belch." The kids all waved or nodded as they were introduced and Hiccup continued, "Well now that we all know each other why don't we join everyone as they head out for food, they tend to all go out at this time." He looked up at the dragon king, "Is that okay Grandfather?" The Bewilderbeast gave an agreeing rumble in response and Hiccup smiled, "Thanks Grandfather." He looked back to Alister, "You and Icebolt just follow us, we're joining the rest for food."

* * *

Across the ocean and in the depths of the Fortress many of the slaves were also getting food though the grey, tasteless gruel which they got barely qualified.

Within in one of the many large, crowded cells sat a former chief. His once well-tended red beard was now straggled and matted with dirt and grime, scars criss-crossed his once mighty body, now leaner through a decade of inadequate rations and too much abuse. His hands were worn to the point where they had more callouses than skin and he was clothed in rags that had been hastily and poorly repaired. This had once been Stoick the Vast, one of Berk's greatest warriors and its chief when it was conquered by the King, reducing the village to charred buildings and enslaving its people.

Stoick now no longer knew who was left of his people, Gobber had been taken to work the forges and he'd never seen him since, his brother-in-law Spitelout had been pulled away from his wife Helga to another part of the Fortress and she'd succumbed to death, partly out of grief for her baby who she was certain was dead. Bucket had died from the poor conditions they were forced to live in and Mulch withdrew into himself at the loss of his dearest friend, rarely speaking and entering a state where he simply existed. The others, the Hoffersons, the Ingermans, Mrs Thornston and many more had either died or been taken to other parts of the Hel they were imprisoned in never to been seen again by their kin.

As Stoick used his hand to scoop the little gruel he had into his mouth another one-time chief and Berk's former greatest foe Alvin sat heavily beside him. By chance or a strange twist of fate they'd ended up in the same slave group and their former enmity had been long since forgotten. Alvin leaned back against the rock wall behind them both, "It looks like we've got a bit more food than usual today Stoick."

"Aye," Stoick answered, "It looks like our overseers are getting slightly softer. Maybe we should ask them for pillows, they might give us some."

Alvin laughed darkly, "Aye, or they'll just beat us like they always do. Still it might be worth it just to see the looks on their faces."

Stoick snorted, "Anything to distract us even for a moment." He sighed, "A decade of this. Slavery, death, endless beatings and grief. In only a couple of years this king conquered Berk, Outcast Island, the Meatheads, Berserkers, Bog-Burglars. A couple of years is all it took him to conquer most of the Archipelago and enslave us all, not even dragons can stop him. Is the whole world going to end up like this one day, can anyone stop him?"

Alvin clasped his shoulder, "One day the King will die the same as anyone else and 'is whole entire empire will collapse and I want to be there when it does." A dark look crossed Alvin's face, "Like 'e did with you 'e took everything from me and the only reason I keep going is to reach the day when everything is taken from 'im, then I can die 'appy."

Stoick smiled at his friend, "Well then Alvin, let's make sure we're both there when that day comes. I don't want either of us to miss it."

* * *

 _ **PS-So an appearance from Stoick and Alvin there and remember that the OC deadline is Wednesday 11**_ _ **th**_ _ **at 11pm-British Time. Please let me know what you thought and I'll see you soon.**_


	7. Titans in the Nest

_**Author's Note:**_

 _ **Hello everyone and welcome to chapter seven. I have decided on the OCs I am using and they all either appear or are mentioned in this chapter. I promised I would also post a list of the authors that gave me the OCs I've used so here it is:**_

 **Shamira The Guardian, Charr2003, GuestDreamer88 _(gave two)_ , Lunessa Mysteria, TidePoolAngel, MilaSongRide, Midnight Wonders, DeathDragonovaOverlord **_**and**_ **the core of justice _(who gave Alister (renamed))._**

 _ **Thank you for your OCs and I hope I use them well and also thank you**_ **Sarnakh the Sunderer, Silvercoal** _ **and**_ **Great _(Guest reviewer)_** _ **whose OCs I didn't use, your input has been greatly appreciated.**_

 _ **This of course means that I'll no longer be accepting any more OCs but any suggestions with regards to the story are still appreciated and I hope you enjoy this chapter.**_

 _ **I own nothing.**_

* * *

 **Titans in the Nest**

The Nest, the centre of the Fortress and the home of the King and his most loyal subjects.

Inside the Nest was a great dining hall with several large tables, its walls were decorated with murals of dragons and humans being both subjugated and slain and at one end was a row of twelve paintings depicting twelve dragons with a blank space directly in the middle. Slaves were positioned around the edges of the hall waiting to serve their masters, a mixed group of six teens and children. These were some of the Twelve Titans, the most powerful people in the King's forces, excluding the King himself, and all were called the King's children.

At one of the tables sat a ten year old, dark haired girl beside an older boy with dark red hair. The boy was devouring the food before him while she delicately picked at it as she addressed him, "Haven't you had enough yet Dagur?"

Dagur cackled slightly, "Some of the slaves are helping me with target practice Heather, I have to make sure I've got a lot of strength in case one of them annoys me and I have to punish them."

Heather rolled her eyes, "Just make sure you don't kill any of them this time, it takes so long to train a new one properly."

Dagur grinned, "Can't make any promises sister, some of them make such good screaming sounds. Especially when I fill them with my Skrill lightning powers."

"I guess the standard of some of your slaves has really been quite shocking then."

Another girl with auburn, hip length hair had spoken and Dagur laughed manically, "Heeheehee…'shocking'…nice one Amber! That really cracks me up!"

He went into another round of cackles and Amber smiled her bright green eyes lighting up, "I thought you'd like that one Dagur."

The muscular boy with red spiky hair beside her smiled, "And once again we sit here while Dagur laughs his head off, is anyone willing to take bets on how long he'll keep it up this time?"

Amber looked thoughtful, "I think I will Nova. I bet five gold pieces that he'll last fifteen minutes."

Nova nodded, "Fine, I see your bet and say twenty minutes. What about you Akila?"

A younger girl with wavy, golden brown hair bounced excitedly in her seat, "Oooh…I say half an hour and ten gold pieces."

Nova nodded again, "Okay then…Leif?"

A slender boy with short, fair hair and freckled skin snorted, "I think I'm above wasting my time on such lowly means of entertaining myself."

Nova shrugged, "Well I guess I expected that from you. Too bad Anthea is away on a mission right now, she'd have been willing to place a bet."

Heather re-entered the conversation, "She should be back soon since it was only a dragon capturing mission but I'm not sure where the rest are."

Akila began listing them off, "Kadlin and Arina are also on dragon capturing, Newt is scouting out Dragon Island and Erika has been sent to keep an eye on Gustav during his Fledging as he searches for those dragon riding kids with Savage."

Leif gave a scornful snort, "So Erika's been forced to babysit Gustav, that boy's pathetic."

Dagur had finally finished his laughing fit and snarled at Leif, "Gustav has more power than you Leif and I remember that Nova had to babysit you during your Fledging and he almost had to do your mission for you."

Leif had cringed back at Dagur's tone and he spluttered out a reply, "Gustav only exists because our father forced two slaves to conceive him, if he didn't have the Potential than he would've been left as a slave like his birth parents."

Nova sighed, "You can be really stupid at times Leif. Father did that because the two slaves had the Potential themselves but were too old to go through the Hatching. He knew that any union between them would result in a child with Potential, so he made sure it happened. Gustav was born to be one of us Titans and he will prove himself worthy."

Leif scowled before getting up from his seat and stalking out of the room, Akila glared at him as he went, "He's far too arrogant for his own good."

Nova shrugged, "He's always been that way and I doubt that's going to change anytime soon."

* * *

Upon Dragon Island a lone figure moved silently along the ground in the dusk.

At first glance it looked like a boy but closer inspection proved that it was actually a girl in boyish clothing. Her black hair was cut short but swept to one side across her forehead and a braid hung down in front of the right side of her face.

This was Newt, and she was the expert of stealth among the Twelve Titans. Her small build allowed her to move unnoticed by many and slip in through small gaps and spaces. Being light-footed allowed her to move with almost no sound and she had a final ability that clinched her mastery of stealth.

The powers of a Changewing.

It had taken a lot of training and practice but Newt had mastered a Changewing's camouflage skills to the point where she could make herself almost completely invisible, clothes and all, and it was one of her greatest skills.

Moving skilfully Newt approached her target, a small cave entrance into the volcano that dominated the island. Her mission was to scout out Dragon Island and discover what kind of dragons lived there and what type of dragon was the alpha, this island was the King's next target for conquest and Newt needed to uncover all the information she could. She cautiously approached the cave entrance making sure that no dragons were present to discover her, while she could become invisible it took its toll when used continuously so she tried to be careful in how she used it. Satisfied that her way was clear she stole into the cave and moved swiftly and silently down the tunnel.

* * *

Night had fallen upon the Sanctuary and Snotlout and Hookfang were slowly making their way home. Snotlouts thoughts were largely on Alister and in all honesty he found the other boy really annoying.

Ever since they'd met him Alister had often spoken down to them when it came to dragons, suggesting different ways of interacting with them, telling them how to fly the dragons, stating different dragon habits like they were fact when all of them knew otherwise and even saying that Snotlout knew nothing about Monstrous Nightmares and refusing to listen when he tried to point out that his parents weren't the way Alister said they were. That one had really irritated him and even Hiccup turned incredibly cold to Alister at that moment, Hookfang had barely held back from sending the boy flying with his tail and Snotlout and the others had moodily left the arrogant boy alone with Icebolt. Since then the two brothers had gone back to play wrestling to burn off their annoyance and as night fell they'd finally decided they should head back home.

Snotlout's thought drifted away from Alister and onto the events of several days ago. Even now what had happened still scared him slightly and knowing that Hiccup and Auntie Valka had rescued Alister from the same men made him worry. What if they found their way here? What would happen then? Occasionally dreams of those men somehow sneaking into his home and stealing him away would haunt his sleep and he'd wake to find either his mother or father comforting him but the worries remained.

Sensing his emotions Hookfang nuzzled his younger brother and Snotlout felt his tensions ease slightly, he nuzzled his brother back, "Thanks Hookfang."

The Nightmare gave a happy rumble and they finally reached their home cave, their mother came over as they entered and greeted her two sons. As she nuzzled them both she sniffed Snotlout and gave an instructing growl, Snotlout knew exactly what she was ordering and he attempted to protest, "Mom, can't my bath wait until tomorrow?"

She crouched down and gave him a no-nonsense look and his father added a commanding grunt of his own. Knowing further protest was pointless Snotlout sighed, stripped down to his smalls and sat between his mother's wings allowing her to wash him, Hookfang sauntered past sniggering and the Snotlout called after his brother, "Just because you're considered old enough to sort yourself."

Hookfang threw an amused growl back in reply and vanished into his connecting cave leaving his brother to put up with his bath. Eventually Snotlout's mother was satisfied with her son's cleanliness and she began ushering him towards the slightly raised stone slab that served as their bed. His father was already settled down there and Snotlout curled into his side, his mother joined them and soon Snotlout was comfortably snuggled between his parents.

Settled safely and securely between the two Nightmares, Snotlout instantly drifted off to sleep and let his worries about the men from several days ago slip to the back of his mind.

* * *

 _ **PS-So the Twelve Titans have been named and Dragon Island is now involved. Please let me know what you thought and I'll hopefully see you soon.**_


	8. Twins, Rivals and Discussions

_**Author's Note:**_

 _ **Hello and welcome to chapter eight. Here we see more of the Titans as well as a bit more of Gustav. Thank you everyone for your reviews and I'm glad that most of you seem happy with the way I've used your OCs and I hope you all enjoy the chapter.**_

 _ **I own nothing.**_

* * *

 **Twins, Rivals and Discussions**

A tall, slender seventeen year old girl stood watching several men carefully move a metal dragon trap onto a ship. She had long, black hair with brown streaks that was artfully braided down the back and her odd dark purple eyes missed nothing as she observed the men under her command. Behind her another girl physically identical in every way except for having gold instead of brown streaks in her hair sat on a ruined wall toying with a hand axe.

This was Kadlin and Arina, identical twins and two more of the Twelve Titans. The two were very close and one would never do a mission without the other, their teamwork with each other was flawless and they knew each other's abilities and strengths inside out.

One of the men ran up to the standing twin and gave a short bow, "Lady Kadlin, the last of the traps have been loaded and we are ready to leave on command."

Kadlin nodded and then turned to her twin, "What do you think Rin? Shall we head off?"

Arina shrugged, "I suppose so, this mission's been pretty boring with nothing to fight. I could use a dragon to fight or at least some prisoner to torture but we're not likely to find much else here, this island was pretty much trashed when the Meatheads were conquered."

Kadlin turned back to her subordinate, "Then we shall leave immediately captain."

He gave another bow, "As you wish Milady."

He bowed to Arina before hurrying off to give the word to his men as Arina got off the wall she'd been sitting on and hooked her axe onto a clip attached to the belt of her black skirt. As she strode over to her twin a whirling sound was heard and both girls instantly dived and rolled as one. They were back on their feet and ready to fight in moments, Kadlin had been carrying a bow and she already had an arrow ready to fire while Arina had both a her hand axe and her short sword unsheathed. A set of bolas landed where Kadlin had been moments before and several ragged Vikings hurtled towards them screaming war cries, Kadlin raised an eyebrow, "Apparently there's Meathead survivors, they must have been hiding out here for years."

She began rapidly firing arrows taking out three before they reached them as Arina took the foremost foes head on skilfully wielding her weapons. Within seconds four more were down and the remainder began to group together to try and overwhelm the duel-wielding girl, green gas poured in around their feet and some of them looked back to see Kadlin had moved behind them and was breathing the gas out. Before they could deal with her Arina hopped back and grinned, "Goodbye."

She snapped her fingers and sparks leapt from them, the gas ignited and the explosion took out all the remaining men at once. Their screams rent the air and Arina laughed happily, "Well it looks like there was something interesting here after all."

Kadlin sheathed her weapon and turned away from the remains of their assailants to see the captain of their men hurrying up with several of his fighters behind him. Seeing the bodies he slowed down, sheathed his drawn sword and gave a quick bow, "Miladys, while you were dealing with these Vikings another group attempted an assault on our ship. Most of them were killed but we have two prisoners."

"Excellent work Captain," Kadlin congratulated, "Those two prisoners will know if there are any more survivors on this island so we'll keep them for interrogation. Keep them restrained and guarded at all times and we'll head straight for the Fortress."

Bowing once more the captain answered, "Yes Milady."

* * *

Snotlout, Hookfang, Toothless and Hiccup were currently doing a high speed, aerial assault course around the interior of the Sanctuary.

It was an activity that all four enjoyed immensely and engaged in often, to the point that most of the Sanctuary dragons knew to get out of the way when they saw them coming. As expected Toothless and Hiccup usually won because of the Night Fury's superior speed and agility but Hookfang and Snotlout had developed a few techniques that helped them make up for their lacking skills in that regard which occasionally helped them snatch victory. Today was not one such day and Toothless was in fine form taking the win every time so the two dragons swapped riders for a bit. This was something else that happened quite often since the two cousins were very close and the dragons had decided that that made them cousins too, in fact most of the kids and their closest dragon sibling would swap around with the others since their friendships were so close and they all understood each other really well.

Snotlout loved the rush he got when he and Toothless zipped through the Sanctuary's many passages and the two of them could sync really well. As they skilfully dodged around obstacles Snotlout called back to his brother behind them, "C'mon Hookfang! I know you and Hiccup can do better than that!"

Hookfang gave a challenging rumble and Hiccup spoke to the Nightmare beneath him, "Let's show him Hookfang!"

Hookfang roared in agreement and the two shot off as synced as Snotlout and Toothless, using slight shortcuts and well-timed bursts of speed they began closing in on the other two. Down at the finish line by Grandfather's pool Astrid stood with her sister Stormfly waiting to see who finished first. Her two younger brothers were also there and the hatchling Nadders played about at her feet, she looked down at them excitedly, "Look guys! Here they come!"

The two baby Nadders looked up and saw the racing cousins approaching and began chirping in excitement. Hiccup and Hookfang were rapidly catching up to Toothless and Snotlout and it was looking like a close finish but then Toothless put on an explosive burst of speed and shot on ahead. As the Night Fury sped over the finish line Astrid's brothers were nearly blown away by the draft caused by the speeding dragon, as Hookfang crossed the line and landed Toothless did a quick victory lap of the Sanctuary's central chamber before also landing beside the Nightmare. Snotlout got off Toothless' back cheering, "WOO-HOO! Toothless. That was awesome!"

The Night Fury grinned and gave a happy roar before crouching down to play with the two baby Nadders bouncing around his paws. Hiccup dismounted Hookfang and spoke to his cousin, "That was really impressive guys."

Snotlout grinned, "It was pretty close Hiccup, you and Hookfang were right behind us the whole way and you might have even won if Toothless didn't use that speed burst."

"That's because ye can't fly a Night Fury properly."

Everyone looked round at the new voice and saw Alister standing nearby with Icebolt. He strode towards them, "There's no way a Monstrous Nightmare could keep up with a Night Fury unless the Night Fury wasn't being ridden properly."

Snotlout bristled at the other boy, "What do you mean 'ridden properly'? Toothless isn't a horse!"

"Doesn't matter." Alister answered, "If yer not a decent rider then ye'd be better off without a dragon at all."

With that Alister turned and left with Icebolt close behind and Toothless and Hookfang snorted angrily as Snotlout fumed. Astrid shook her head, "What's with that guy? He speaks about dragons like they're pets."

Hiccup sighed, "I think he doesn't actually see them as anything other than animals." He spoke to his fuming cousin, "Don't let him get to you Snotlout, he's wrong and he doesn't understand our family the way we do. You and Toothless fly brilliantly together, right Toothless?"

Toothless rumbled in agreement and Hookfang did as well causing Snotlout to give a small smile, "You're right but I still don't like Alister very much."

Astrid grinned, "Fair enough." Her eyes lit up as she had a sudden idea, "Hey, do you think our parents would let us head out to the thermal vents? Most of us haven't been away from the Sanctuary since Healers Island and they're not that far from here. I'm sure dad will happily go with us."

Hiccup grinned as well, "That's a great idea Astrid! What do you think Snotlout?"

Snotlout thought about it for a moment then grinned, "Yeah, let's do it! I'll go ask mom now."

"I'll go with you." Hiccup said, "My mom is probably with her at the moment anyway. Me and Hookfang race you and Toothless there?"

"Challenge accepted, let's go Toothless!"

Quickly letting the kids on their backs, Toothless and Hookfang shot up and headed towards the caves.

* * *

Out upon open water, Gustav perched on the prow of Savage's ship glaring at the waves.

His first proper mission had been going fine until it had been ruined by a couple of unknown dragon riders who'd now simply vanished. It really annoyed him and he moodily flung the small beaker he'd been holding into the sea.

"Like that's gonna help."

He sighed at the familiar voice, "What are you doing here Erika?"

He looked round to see a slender, fifteen year old girl standing behind him. Her black hair was currently tied into a ponytail and her blue eyes seemed to bore into him, "You know that one of the Titans will keep an eye on another on their Fledging Gustav."

Gustav looked back out across the sea, "Guess I forgot that."

Erika gave a soft smile, normally she was very cold to people but to the ones she liked she was very kind and gentle and Gustav was one of those people, "You can't expect to get it perfect first time, besides the plan was good and would've worked if those riders hadn't got involved."

Gustav narrowed his eyes, "I hope to find them soon. It'll be good to face them even if I'm to try and capture them as unharmed as possible."

Erika sat down behind him, "Is there a particular one of them you want to face?"

Gustav thought for a moment before answering, "The one with the Monstrous Nightmare." He looked round at the older girl, "I haven't actually seen him yet but Savage said there was one so that's who I really want to face." He clenched his fist and small flames flickered from it, "I was given the powers of a Monstrous Nightmare so what better way to test them then by facing a real one."

Erika grinned, "I hope I get to see that." She stood, "Just don't let your anger get the better of you, you may only be eight but throwing a tantrum in the middle of a fight won't help you much." She began walking away then looked back, "Where are you searching next?"

"We've decided to look at some of the unexplored islands." Gustav answered, "There's one which has many thermal vents so we're starting there."

Erika nodded, "Well good luck Gustav."

As she slipped away Gustav continued to stare out across the waves.

* * *

 _ **PS-So there we go and I hope you liked that and just Anthea to introduce properly so I'll try and do that next chapter. Please let me know what you thought and I'll try and update soon.**_


	9. Thermal Attack

_**Author's Note:**_

 _ **Hello and here is chapter nine for you all. Part of this chapter introduces the last of the Twelve Titans Anthea properly and in answer to**_ **Eeveecat1248** _ **reveiw the Zippleback twins are two Titans even though they each have half the powers of one dragon. I have also started another story called 'Glacial Bloom' which is set in my other HTTYD verse so please give that a read as well and I'll be continuing to update both stories together. Thank you for your continued support and I hope you enjoy the chapter.**_

 _ **I own nothing.**_

* * *

 **Thermal Attack**

It had taken a bit of work but Snotlout and Hiccup managed to convince their mothers to let them head out to the thermal vents with Astrid on the condition that Astrid's father accompanied them.

The thermal vents were on a small rocky island that was far enough away that the Sanctuary was out of sight and it was the furthest the three kids were currently allowed to go. The continuous updraft from the vents was often used to help young dragons on their first flight, the hatchlings would be carried out to the vents by their parents and from there they'd practice their flying skills. The kids had been several times before with a large group of adults and hatchlings but the adult dragons understood that they were now a bit older and were starting to let them head further afield but remained wary because of recent events meaning the kids had to have a chaperone.

The kids liked having Astrid's father as a chaperone because he was a bit more lax than some of the other elder dragons, while he always maintained a watchful eye he allowed them a bit more freedom than some of the others who'd barely let them get ten feet away in case something happened. As such he was quite happy to settle down above the thermal vents where he could see everything and let them freely play. The kids did so with great gusto and soon their dragon siblings were gliding on the strong updrafts which almost lifted the kids from their backs. While they played none of them were aware of the ship that anchored off the opposite side of the island and Gustav and Savage's men disembarking to scour the island.

* * *

On another island entirely a girl with fiery red hair was chasing a Speed Stinger through a forest of pine trees. She was average height with grey eyes and a personality as fiery as her hair as well as an incredibly short attention span that had led to her separating a Speed Stinger from its pack and chasing it simply because she was bored.

This was the final one of the King's children the Twelve Titans, Anthea was her name and she'd left her group of dragon trappers behind to deal with her boredom. Though her quarry was fast she was clever enough to take every shortcut and cheat move to stay close behind it, behind her she could hear the rest of the pack following in order to protect their pack mate and she gave a small smile.

Shortly she found herself in a clearing and several Speed Stingers jumped out of the bushes in a clear ambush, quickly Anthea readied her twin daggers and crouched ready to fight as the dragons rapidly moved towards her, calling out as she did so, "C'mon then!"

The dragons leapt at her intending to paralyze her with their stings but sparks danced from her skin as she suddenly launched into the air and spun towards them. Taken by surprise the dragons were flung back, some bearing cuts or burns, as she spun rapidly in a whirl of fiery sparks. Struck by fear at the sudden unprecedented move the Speed Stingers turned and fled hoping to get away from the fiery girl, as they vanished into the forest Anthea finally stopped spinning as she ended up back where she'd launched her move from. She stood laughing for a while before taking a deep breath and halting her merriment, "Well that was fun." She looked up at the sky thoughtfully, "I guess I should head back, those guys will hopefully be done by now. Maybe I should have captured one of those Speed Stingers to take back with me, the voyage to the Fortress can be incredibly long and boring."

Sheathing her daggers she practically skipped off in the direction she'd come leaving behind a distinctive burn mark in the forest clearing she'd performed her move.

* * *

It came so suddenly neither the kids nor the dragons were ready for it.

A blast of fire rocketed out of nowhere nearly striking Hookfang solidly in the chest almost causing Snotlout to tumble off his back. Instantly Astrid's father was in the air and swooping down to defend his charges while ordering them to get away. Another jet of flame shot at them nearly hitting Stormfly and it was enough for Astrid's father to pinpoint where it'd come from, swooping low he let loose his own fire blast at the spot and Gustav dived out from behind a cluster of rocks. The boy breathed out another stream of flame at the male Nadder forcing him to wheel in the air, suddenly a heavy, chain net whirled out from behind them entangling Stormfly causing her to fall. Seeing both his daughters in danger her father tried to break away from his fight with Gustav but the boy distracted him with more fire blasts allowing Savages men to close in on the fallen Nadder.

Hookfang and Snotlout had begun moving the moment Stormfly had been caught and they dived down towards their trapped friends, some accurate plasma blasts from Toothless forced Savage's men away from Stormfly and Hookfang landed right beside her. Jumping off his back Snotlout began tugging hard at the net trying to pull it off Astrid and her sister, Hookfang also tried to help as Toothless and Hiccup covered their backs but the net proved to heavy and entangled for them to shift it. Suddenly Hookfang pounced on Snotlout and covered him with his body, protecting him from a fire blast sent by Gustav. The Nightmare then placed himself in front of his brother and growled ferociously at Gustav. The young Titan smiled, "I have to admit I've been looking forward to testing my powers against an actual Monstrous Nightmare."

Hookfang flared up his Fire Coat and roared at the boy causing some of Savage's men to back away, Gustav however simply grinned before igniting his own Fire Coat and roaring back. Taken by surprise Hookfang faltered and his flames died down as Snotlout spoke in surprise, "How can you even do that!?"

Gustav looked like he was about to answer when he suddenly stopped and stared at Snotlout, his eyes widened and he spoke sounding equally surprised, "I don't believe it! You…"

He got no further as another of Toothless' plasma blasts impacted near his feet flinging the Titan back. Giving his signature screeching sound Toothless dived towards Gustav and Savage's men at such a speed that they had no choice but to either hit the deck or dive out the way. Astrid's father had used the distraction to free Stormfly and Astrid with Hookfang's help and all the dragons quickly took to the air, Toothless fired one last plasma blast before joining the others as they winged their way away from danger and back to the safety of the Sanctuary.

* * *

Erika had been about to intervene in the fight when she'd been distracted by the same thing as Gustav preventing her from stopping their quarry's escape.

Hurrying over to the younger Titan she ignored the others around her and helped Gustav up from where Toothless' blast had knocked him to the ground. When she got him to his feet she spoke urgently, "Gustav, did you sense the same thing I did?"

He nodded, "Yes I did and it distracted me." He looked up at her, "This changes things a bit."

Erika also nodded, "Yes, we need to head back to the Fortress and report this to father, he may want all his children on this." She in a louder more commanding voice, "Savage, take a small group of about five men, make sure they're highly capable. You're to try and discover where those kids are living but do not attempt to capture them. The one exception is if you're presented with a perfect opportunity to capture the dark-haired boy who was riding the Monstrous Nightmare without being discovered. Be careful to remain undetected and return to this island in two weeks time to receive further orders, understand?"

Savage gaped in confusion for a moment before giving Erika a bow, "Understood Milady, we're to remain undetected and must not attempt a capture unless we are certain we can capture the dark-haired boy without being discovered. I shall assemble a team of five men immediately."

Erika spoke to the rest, "The rest of you will accompany me and Gustav back to the Fortress, we must report to his Majesty immediately and inform him of the events here."

Savage nervously spoke, "Excuse my impertinence Milady but am I to assume that the boy with the Nightmare has…"

Erika cut across him curtly, "Yes Savage, if the perfect opportunity presents itself then you are to capture that boy as unharmed as possible. As you've assumed he does indeed have the Potential."

* * *

 _ **PS-So things change a bit and can you guess what dragon power Anthea has? Please let me know what you thought and please also read my other story and I'll hopefully update soon.**_


	10. Plans Decided

_**Author's Note:**_

 _ **Hello everyone and welcome to chapter ten of this story. Firstly can I please ask people not to review my other stories just to ask when I'm updating this one, it's a bit annoying to go and read a review for one story just to find out they're actually talking about a completely different one. It's only happened once but please don't do it. I'll update this story when I've written a new chapter so there isn't a set day or timeframe for me to do that, I'll try not to leave it too long before updates but expect at least a couple of days between chapters.**_

 _ **Apart from that thank you for your continued support of this story and I hope you enjoy the chapter.**_

 _ **I own nothing.**_

* * *

 **Plans Decided**

Unease hung in the air of the Sanctuary as the dragons were told what had happened at the Thermal Vents.

Twice now someone had attempted to capture their children and this last attack had been dangerously close to the Sanctuary. Fortunately the vents were far enough away that their home wasn't visible to the men but the fact they'd found their way this close was very concerning.

When he heard about what had happened the Bewilderbeast sent Cloudjumper out with several other dragons to patrol the waters around the Sanctuary so they'd have warning if the men got any closer. As the dragons headed out Valka got the whole tale from the kids involved and decided there and then that until further notice none of the children were to leave the Sanctuary, the dragons were of a similar mind and it wasn't long before Astrid and Snotlout were being shepherded off home by their parents.

For the next couple of days the kids barely went anywhere alone as an elder dragon was always with them and few dragons left the safety of the Sanctuary walls. The children spent a lot of time down beside the Bewilderbeast's pool playing and relaxing but all of them felt lingering worry from what had happened and more than one of them had restless nights.

Their relationship with Alister also began to grow colder, when he'd been told about what had happened he'd been quite critical of how they handled it putting him at odds with the others. Being stuck in the Sanctuary also meant they saw a lot of him during the day and his general attitude of dragons being little more than animals annoyed all of them. He kept going on about their dragon flying skills saying that they weren't that good and several times he'd come dangerously close to being hit by one of the dragons or the kids for his comments. As time went on the kids began to spend less and less time with the overconfident boy as their tolerance of his attitude decreased and it wasn't long before they effectively stopped spending time with him at all.

Eventually the Sanctuary began to relax as there had been no further sightings of the hostile humans near their home since the Thermal Vents and dragons began heading out for food and recreation as they normally did. The kids' dragon parents also began to relax again and slowly daily life went back to how it was before the attacks happened.

* * *

Inside the Nest of the Fortress all but one of the Twelve Titans had gathered in the great dining hall to hear what Erika and Gustav had to report and the King's decision on the matter.

Also in attendance was Saphia, the women who'd sent Savage and Gustav on their mission and was the one responsible for granting the Titans their powers in the first place. She stood before the Titans and outlined exactly what was going on, "As you've just heard from Erika and Gustav we have discovered another child who has the Pontential, meaning that this boy could be another Titan."

Leif gave a snort, "From what they've said about him he doesn't sound like much."

Erika responded cuttingly, "Oh and you looked so impressive when you were brought here crying your eyes out when we found you."

Leif glowered at her but didn't respond as some of the others laughed. Saphia continued on, "He may not sound like much but this boy has the Potential and he also seems to have some degree of control over at least one dragon. We're not quite sure how they've done it but he's part of a group of at least five children who ride dragons as well as an adult woman, this boy's dragon riding abilities could well give us an exceptional advantage in our ongoing campaign making him a very valuable asset."

Nova leaned forward, "So we need to capture him, preferably unharmed so he can be given the training to become a Titan."

Saphia nodded, "Yes. His Majesty has made it very clear that he wants this boy, he also wants us to capture as many of the other dragon riders as possible in order to find out how they've managed it. If they've learnt to control dragons then they are potentially a serious threat which we cannot ignore."

Amber spoke, "So what's the plan?"

Saphia answered, "At the moment Newt is involved with scouting out Dragon Island so we do not have her stealth capabilities to carry out a subtle kidnapping. As such we need to lure the boy out or go on a full offensive raid. Erika has already seen to it that we have men searching for where these riders are hiding, once they've discovered where they are and the level of defences we'll then plan accordingly. Nova, Amber and Leif will be the main team for actually capturing the boy regardless of which plan we choose. Gustav, Erika and Dagur, you'll make up the team for any offensive needs while the rest of you are to remain here at the Nest. When Newt returns it is highly likely that his Majesty will be launching a full offensive against Dragon Island so must all be prepared for the assault. Does everyone understand?"

She received affirmatives from the Titans and she nodded curtly, "Good, now go and prepare all of you. You leave at first light."

* * *

In the depths of Dragon Island Newt had been discovering a lot of useful information.

The whole island was riddled with tunnels that went towards one large central chamber which was where most of the dragons nested. She'd also discovered that the Alpha was a massive dragon that hadn't been encountered before which was forcing all the others to feed it or get eaten themselves. When she'd first seen it she couldn't help but be impressed and not just by its sheer size, the fact that it actually lived in the lava that sat at the bottom of the central chamber was an impressive display of how tough its hide was.

Apart from the Alpha most of the dragons were either Gronkles, Nadders, Zipplebacks, Nightmares or Terrors of which the King's forces had ample experience of dealing with meaning that any battle would be fairly simple. The Alpha would be the real threat but she was certain that her father the King and the strongest of all of them would be able to kill it thus bolstering their forces immensely.

Satisfied with her findings, Newt took a small passage out of the volcano of Dragon Island to return to the Fortress.

* * *

On the top floor of the Nest was a special room that only a few could ever enter. It was the domain of Saphia and it was where most of the Titans had received their powers.

The centrepiece of the room was a large, egg-shaped, metal container. From it ran several straight obsidian rods which all went into the base of a large cage, runes had been carved into the floor around the central container and the cage and a pedestal, also carved with runes, with an empty indentation stood between them.

Saphia stood before the cage and smiled at a dark shape within, "Well it looks like we've finally found yet another potential Titan, you won't be in there for much longer."

The dark shape growled and the woman smiled even wider, "You're going to help me create one of the most powerful Titans, second only to his Majesty, and give him something he's been wanting for a long time."

She stepped towards the cage and placed her hand on its bars before saying with almost reverence,

"A successor."

* * *

 _ **PS-So there we go and a bit more explanation of why they want Snotlout. To those of you who guessed Anthea's ability, yes she has the powers of a Typhoomerang. Please let me know what you thought and I'll hopefully update soon**_


	11. A Rider's Thoughts

_**Author's Note:**_

 _ **Hello everyone and welcome to another chapter. This one largely focuses on Asger and we learn a bit more of his history and background. Thank you for your reviews and I'm glad you're enjoying the little hints and mysteries I've been scattering through this fic. I hope you enjoy the chapter.**_

 _ **I own nothing.**_

* * *

 **A Rider's Thoughts**

Alister sat with Icebolt pensively staring at the horizon from one of the exits of the Sanctuary.

He'd noticed how the kids had started to grow colder to him and were now mostly avoiding him entirely and it was bothering him, he'd wondered if he'd been to overconfident and if maybe there was something he was missing when it came to dragons. He'd spent so long with Icebolt he was certain he knew everything there was to know which had bolstered his natural confidence, when he'd been born his father had immediately trained him to be the best and from an early age he'd known that he was very skilled. By five he knew how to wield a sword perfectly and he was almost as good with an axe or mace, when he met Icebolt at seven he'd seen a similar thing in the Skrill and he was certain that was why they bonded so well. Since then they'd both encountered many dragons in the wild and had even bonded with a loose group of dragons that occasionally met and teamed up together for hunts, the leader of this group was a dragon he'd called Shadow and he'd really shown Asger the wild, pure thrill of the hunt.

Shadow was the most powerful and skilful of the group and Alister and Icebolt had learned a lot from watching, copying and hunting alongside him. To Alister, Shadow represented everything a dragon was, strong, powerful, the ultimate of all animals and surpassed only by humans. The dragons Alister knew were all hunters at heart, while they did socialise, help and hunt with each other they often preferred to travel and hunt on their own. They had no set nest and they rarely spent more than a couple of days together as each dragon went its own path, if they met one another they would always stop and spend some time together and maybe go on a hunt or two but it was never long before they separated again. Icebolt and Alister were the only ones that remained together constantly and the boy had thought that all dragons were like the ones he knew.

That had been completely turned on its head when he'd ended up in the Sanctuary, the dragons here were not the lone hunters he'd encountered before. They were gentler, more sociable and didn't seem that eager for the thrill of the hunt, they raised families and they spent more time with other dragons than alone as their young played freely all over the Sanctuary. The kids he'd met also played freely and spent most of their time playing games or doing fun races and challenges as they didn't have to work hard to track down and catch their next meal, they just headed out with the Bewilderbeast on fishing trips or Valka or one of the dragons brought food back for them.

Alister wondered if it was this that had caused him to be so critical of them, from an early age he'd learned that life could be hard and survival could mean so much work. Before Icebolt he'd always worked hard, it wasn't that his father mistreated him (in fact it was quite the opposite) it was just that if they hoped to survive everyone had to do their bit. When he'd lost his father and met Icebolt they both had to hunt to survive so there hadn't been a time where Alister hadn't had to work to get food as far back as he remembered and he wondered if he was jealous of the kids here who didn't know the hardship he did.

He heard soft footsteps behind him and Valka came and sat down beside him. They sat quietly for a bit before she spoke, "You've been spending a lot of time here."

Alister shrugged, "I don't think the others want to be around me much, I guess they're fed up with my attitude."

Valka sighed, "I understand why they are but I think I also understand why you've been the way you have." He looked up at her and she gave him a small smile, "You've obviously been with Icebolt a very long time but you haven't had the chance to fully understand dragons. You've not let go of the idea that they're animals and that's why the other kids don't understand where you're coming from. They grew up here so they've never seen dragons as just animals but I have."

Alister looked surprised, "Really?"

Valka nodded, "Before coming here I lived in a village called Berk, we were in a constant war with dragons as they raided us for food. I believed there was a better way than simply killing them but in my mind they were still just animals but one night changed that." She stared out to the horizon as she spoke, "It was roughly ten years ago and my son Hiccup was a few months old. It was during a dragon raid and I was just outside our hut trying to get people to stop fightning, suddenly I heard a dragon break inside and I rushed in to protect Hiccup but I saw something that changed everything I thought. Instead of attacking Hiccup the dragon was gently playing with him, he was as fascinated with Hiccup as Hiccup was with him and I saw such gentleness and compassion in his eyes. When he noticed me there he simply turned and looked at me and I saw that he hated the constant fighting as much as I did and he was far more than some animal. He was a sentient being with as much capacity for intelligence and love as a human and I knew then that I could never harm him." She closed her eyes sadly, "Then my husband Stoick charged in, he thought he was protecting us and went to kill the dragon. The dragon went to defend himself but I intervened and stopped him, before I knew it he'd grabbed me and carried me away from Berk and my family and he brought me back here. He must have seen the same thing in me I saw in him and he thought I belonged here away from the endless fighting and constant bloodshed."

She gave another sigh then turned back to Alister and smiled, "Dragons are far more than you think and like humans there is so much you can learn about them, they love, fight, play, argue and live just like humans and they are as intelligent as we are. It was the dragons that led me back to Berk so I could save Hiccup and the others when it was destroyed and they've reared them like their own young ever since. They know they're not dragons yet they've still loved and cared for them as if they were to the point that the kids love them like they were their real parents and siblings. They don't know dragons as anything but their family and I think you will see what they truly are for yourself." Valka stood and placed a gentle hand on Alister's shoulder, "Just watch how they interact with each other and the children and you'll see what I've learned and the others have always known."

She quietly left and Alister returned his gaze to the horizon thinking about everything Valka had said.

* * *

Away from the Sanctuary, Savage was also deep in thought as he sat beside the fire one of his scouting team had created.

They'd been searching hard for the hideout of the dragon riding kids but had yet to find its location. Though he'd remained focused on his missions his thoughts had often wandered back to his encounter with Alister several days earlier. He'd managed to keep his feelings under control at the time but the boy's sudden appearance had surprised him greatly, he'd been certain the boy had died when he'd betrayed Alvin to the King's forces and seeing him again had been a huge shock.

Outcast Island had been one of the first places to fall to the King's army but many survivors had banded together under Alvin's command and hidden from the King's forces by continuingly moving between islands. Alister had been the only child amongst them and they grew fiercely protective of him, he'd been trained how to fight and hunt and many times Savage had sparred against him and was often beaten by the boy's uncannily good combat skills. Alvin's men kept up this guerrilla style of resistance for several years but Savage was certain that the King would find and destroy them eventually and he wanted to follow the strongest side. As such he managed to contact the King's forces and offered to betray Alvin and all his men in return for a place in the King's army, Saphia had been the one he'd contacted and she agreed to his bargain and thus he betrayed his chief to their enemy to serve the one that had forced them to hide in the first place.

Alvin fought hard against the mighty force that came for him but in the end he was captured and his resistance was crushed with his men either being killed or captured. Alister had been there and had fought alongside them against the King's forces and when the battle was over he wasn't anywhere to be found, many had been burned to a crisp by the King's armoured, battle dragons so it was assumed he'd been destroyed along with them. Savage was granted a place in the King's forces for handing Alvin over and quickly rose through the ranks to Captain, the last he saw of Alvin was the former Outcast chief being dragged off to slavery swearing that he'd live to see the King and his whole empire crumble down and if he ever got the chance he would make sure he paid them back in full for everything they'd taken from him.

Years had passed since that day and Savage hadn't seen Alvin since and he'd been convinced that Alister was no more. But now he'd found Alister alive and stronger than he had been when Alvin had been defeated, on top of that he'd somehow learnt to fly a Skrill and Savage was not eager to meet the boy again. The boy knew how he'd betrayed Alvin and he was certain Alister would seek vengeance upon him and would not rest until he had it.

After all Alvin had once been the same with Berk and the Alister he remembered had definitely been his father's son.

* * *

 _ **PS-So what do you think of that little revelation and where do you think it's going to go? Please let me know what you thought and I hope to update soon.**_


	12. Forces Move

_**Author's Note:**_

 _ **Hello everyone and welcome to chapter twelve. This one mainly stays with the antagonists and their plans begin taking shape. Thank you for your continued support of this story and I hope you enjoy the chapter.**_

 _ **I own nothing.**_

* * *

 **Forces Move**

Days had gone by and Savage's squad hadn't yet discovered the hideout of the dragon riders.

He waited uneasily at the island where they'd last failed to capture one of the riders as one of the King's ships sailed in and anchored of its coast. A smaller vessel came into shore bearing six of the Twelve Titans, as they disembarked Nova strode over to Savage, "Have you found where the riders are hiding yet?"

Savage's throat bobbed nervously, "Um…no Milord."

"I was expecting better than that from you Savage." It was Erika who'd spoken and the coldness in her voice caused him to shiver.

Leif added his own comment, "He's just a grunt Erika. You can't expect much from them, they're only good for catapult fodder."

"That's enough Leif." Nova said sharply. The younger Titan glowered but stayed silent and Nova continued, "If we don't know where they are then that's the first thing we have to do." He regarded the other Titans, "Amber, you were originally from the Bog-Burglar tribe weren't you?"

The auburn haired girl answered, "Yes, before our father made me a Titan. Why?"

"Bog-Burglars used the be the best at stealth techniques so I was wondering if you learnt some of their skills, since we don't have Newt here I was hoping you could fill the role of stealth scout."

Amber smiled, "I can do that. I'm not at Newt's level but I can do better than most."

Nova nodded, "Okay then. Use your skills and see if you can locate where the riders are, we can't do much until we know at least that. Take Leif with you in case you need to send back a rapid message since he's the quickest here. If you find anything either send back Leif your report to us here, we'll turn this island into the central base for this mission." He turned to Erika, "You think that will work?"

She eyed the island around them, "It will do for now but we'll most likely have to move when we find the riders."

Satisfied Nova turned back to Amber, "Okay then, you and Leif ready to go Amber?"

She smiled in response, "We most definitely are Nova. We'll see you soon."

She sauntered off with Leif begrudgingly following behind as Dagur and Gustav joined Nova and Erika, Dagur fidgeted impatiently, "When is there going to be some action? I'm itching to fill vaporise something."

Erika responded without looking at him, "We've just got here Dagur. If you have to attack something go and hunt for wild dragons, there must be some around here that would be more than happy to try and kill you."

He grinned, "No need to sound so unimpressed Erika, regular fights keep me in top form and I've got to amuse myself somehow." The girl snorted at his words but Dagur ignored her and rubbed his hands together gleefully, "I can't wait to go and smite a wild dragon or two. C'mon Gustav, maybe we'll find a Monstrous Nightmare for you to fight."

Gustav also grinned at the idea of fighting another Nightmare and he followed after the older Titan, "Right behind you Dagur, let's go hunting!"

Erika turned round at his words and called after the boy, "Just don't overdo it Gustav! You're not as experienced as the rest of us yet."

The boy casually waved back in response as he continued after Dagur and a worried frown briefly crossed Erika's face and she turned to Nova, "If you've got everything under control here I'll head out and scout the island. Just to make sure there's nothing here we're not expecting."

Hiding his knowing smirk, Nova nodded and Erika headed off on her scouting mission. As men set up camp around him he examined his DragonClaw gauntlets, these were a unique weapon he'd made himself and always made sure they were in top condition. Not quite satisfied with their current state he made his way towards the ship and it's in built forge intending to do some work on them.

* * *

Unnoticed by any of the Titans or their subordinates, Valka had been watching and listening to everything that had been going on and began laying plans of her own. Slipping away quietly she found the hidden Cloudjumper and together they stealthily took to the air and winged after Amber and Leif.

Currently the two Titans weren't being that stealthy since they were certain their quarry weren't around and Valka could easily discern where they were heading for first and she and Cloudjumper headed on ahead of them intending to leave a false trail for them before returning to the Sanctuary to report everything they'd seen.

* * *

Newt strode confidently through the upper halls of the Nest alongside Saphia as they made their way to the Throne Room.

Newt had only just returned from Dragon Island but she'd wasted no time in bringing her report to the King and it wasn't long before they both were stood before grand doors of the Throne Room. Two guards hurriedly opened them and they strode in together.

The hall was even bigger than the Titan's dining hall and at the far end was twelve thrones, one for each Titan. They were arranged in a semi-circular shape with six either side of a large, raised dais and each was carved with an image of its owner's respective dragon indicating whose seat was whose. On the raised dais was three more thrones, the one to the right of the central one was empty and was reserved for the thirteenth Titan, the one on the left was Saphia's while the central one belonged to the King only and he was sat in it waiting for them.

Newt stopped at the base of the broad steps leading up to the central throne and gave a short, respectful bow to the King while Saphia went straight to her throne and sat down. The King at the Titan before speaking, "Newt, tell me what you found on Dragon Island?"

She gave a brief report, "The volcano is the nest and is riddled with tunnels that mostly lead to the main lava chamber. It has a large number of the common dragon breeds and they are all controlled by one massive dragon that makes them bring food to it."

He leaned forward eagerly, "What is the alpha like? What attacks does it use?"

Newt shrugged, "I never saw it use any attacks other than eating dragons that didn't bring enough food but it's far larger than all but the biggest dragons. It actually lives in the volcano's lava so its hide is tough and I assume it uses a powerful fire breath or spews lava. Either way I believe it's not going to prove that much difficulty for you father."

The King leaned back and smiled in satisfaction as Saphia gave him her thoughts, "Our forces are well experienced in dealing with common dragon breeds and since you'll be dealing with the alpha the battle shouldn't be that difficult even with half of your children on another mission."

The King nodded, "It will be a simple battle and will add many more dragons to our army." He looked to Newt, "Tell the others to prepare and inform the army that we'll be heading to Dragon Island at dawn tomorrow. I will have no delays."

Newt nodded, "Of course father. I'll tell my siblings right away."

She strode out of the Throne Room and as she left the King spoke to Saphia, "Is everything ready for when the others return with my new child?"

She smiled, "As ready as it can be. It'll take a couple of days to prepare the Joining Chamber fully but I can't start that until we have the boy and access to his blood. A sample of his essence needs to be Joined with the essence of the power source to act as a template for the full Joining. Unfortunately attempting to begin a full Joining straight away will only kill both the boy and the power source which will make it nearly impossible to give you a successor."

"I know Saphia." The King stood, "You're to keep command here while I conquer Dragon Island, making that boy a Titan is you're main objective and you've got my permission to begin the process if my children return with the boy in my absence."

Saphia also stood, "I understand your Majesty. I'll make it my top priority."

"Good. I shall return soon."

Saphia watched as the King strode towards the Throne Room doors and she smiled as she called after him, "I look forward to hearing of your victory…"

She paused and then finished,

"My Lord Drago."

* * *

 _ **PS-The King's identity is revealed! Though I'm willing to bet most of you had guessed who it was already. Please let me know what you thought and I'll try and update soon.**_


	13. War and News

_**Author's Note:**_

 _ **Hello everyone and welcome to chapter thirteen, here we see the powers of Drago and a few more of the Titans. Thank you everyone for your support of this story and I hope you enjoy the chapter.**_

 _ **I own nothing.**_

* * *

 **War and News**

Drago stood on the prow of his great flagship as it approached Dragon Island.

The constant fog that always surrounded the island pressed in but they'd long since discovered that dragons could sense the path through it and Drago's own powers also showed him the way. As they got closer Drago could feel anticipation thrum through him, since his powers were so strong it was difficult to find a worthy challenger to his might, mere men were feeble compared to him and whole legions could be taken out by one blow, dragons were slightly stronger but any wild dragon could be bent to his will with little effort and were easily enslaved to his whims. The only thing that presented a challenge was an Alpha dragon, they were the only creatures that had powers that could possibly match his own but they were few and far between.

A scraping sound announced their arrival on the shores of Dragon Island and Drago strode down to where they'd lowered several boarding planks to reach the shore and disembarked his vessel. As his army scurried around setting up catapults and traps he stood in front of them and saw glimpses of the volcano through the fog that had rapidly begun to disperse, though he hadn't seen any dragons he could tell there were nearby and that the Alpha knew they were there. However he also knew that until they directly attacked the nest the Alpha would not appear but they moment they did they would have given a challenge that the Alpha could not ignore and it would come. Drago smiled at the thought of the upcoming fight as his six children stood with him, he turned to them to give his instructions, "When the Alpha comes the dragons of this nest may flee, make sure none of them escape."

Nodding their understanding the six Titans separated to position themselves for their task as Drago held up his arm and his forces all paused awaiting his command. A tense silence fell over the beach as everyone waited on their master's signal, it stretched on until it was almost unbearable.

Then Drago's hand dropped.

Instantly iron bound boulders filled the air to strike at the mountainside, they aimed at a specific spot which actually covered a large tunnel and the stone crumbled beneath the continuous pounding. Dragons swarmed out of the mountain to be met by their armoured brethren enslaved to Drago, nets whirled through the air ensnaring the panicked masses and other traps sprung capturing, maiming or even killing any dragon caught by them. Roars and shrieks filled the air as flames blazed, swords flashed and claws tore at flesh and metal.

Any dragons that avoided the traps and enemy dragons were met with the Titans, Newt kept vanishing and reappearing striking pinpoint strikes on the foe and crippling them, Anthea was spinning amongst them daggers flashing and sparks flying taking out the dragons around her, the twins double teamed each target occasionally catching several in their explosive gas, Akila was maintaining her distance as she fired sharp spines from her nails and occasionally firing a bright magnesium flame or striking out with her spear. Heather was bringing two dragons down at a time, she seemed to have covered herself with some sort of natural metal armour and long whip like barbs shot out from her arms and wrapped around dragons to pull them out of the sky, she also fired sharp spines and sometimes sliced right through dragon flesh with her bare hands.

Suddenly a huge roar sounded over the cacophony of battle and the whole island shook as a gargantuan dragon exploded from the volcano, huge chunks of mountain flew through the air and crashed to earth crushing humans and dragons alike. The Alpha gave a mighty bellow and unleashed a firestorm upon those that had dared to challenge her, most would have been incinerated instantly if Drago had not intervened.

Taking in a mighty breath he opened his mouth and roared at the rapidly approaching flames, like a polar blizzard ice flew from his mouth instantly freezing on contact with the ground and collided with the fire of the Alpha. Steam billowed into the air almost as thick as the fog had been and all activity ceased as the powers of the two rulers clashed. As the steam vanished the Alpha glared at the King and Drago roared in challenge, the Alpha responded and Drago pounded towards her, she lifted a foot to crush her enemy but as she brought it down upon him Drago caught it in his hands and pushed back with an Alpha's strength. The Dragon Queen teetered dangerously and she was forced to take a step back to retain her balance, she opened her jaws and went to bite down upon the man fighting her, he moved back at the last minute and caught her snout and twisted her head and managed to toss her onto her side. Breathing upon his arm he formed a spear of ice around it and he ruthlessly stabbed her in one of her eyes, the Alpha screamed in agony as it pierced her skull and went deep into her brain before she went still never to move again.

Drago held his blood smeared arm up triumphantly and roared at the surrounding dragons, almost instantly they began flocking to him and those that could stood before their new Alpha and bowed as he exerted his will upon theirs.

Dragon Island was conquered.

* * *

Far from the war and blood upon Dragon Island, Valka had returned to the Sanctuary after she and Cloudjumper had left a false trail for Leif and Amber to follow. They headed straight for the Bewilderbeast's pool and as Couldjumper updated the King, Valka spoke to the kids who were also there, "Children, I'm afraid that the men we've encountered before have returned."

"What! Really!?" It was Fishlegs who'd spoken and he wrung his hands nervously, "They're not going to find their way here are they?"

Valka gave a comforting smile, "Not if we can help it, they are looking for us but me and Cloudjumper have left a false trail for them to follow." Fishlegs and a couple of the other kids sighed in relief and Valka continued, "However until we are sure it is truly safe none of you are to leave the Sanctuary. I know you've all been stuck here a lot recently but we can't take any risks and I know all your parents will agree."

Though there were some huffs of frustration from some of them they nodded in agreement, Alister had been listening from a distance and he stepped a bit closer, "Where are the men?"

"The thermal vents, they've set up their main camp there but several of them are out looking for us and where we're hiding so no one is to head out from here for any reason." Valka answered.

"Is one of the men the same guy who was leading the ones that tried to capture me?"

Valka narrowed her eyes at Alister's question, "Why?"

He shrugged, "Just wondering cause if it was then that would indicate that he takes his orders from someone else and told them what happened."

Valka continued to regard him suspiciously but answered him, "Yes the man called Savage was there but he appears to be taking orders from a group of children. I don't know why they're in charge but the boy Gustav was there so it's likely they have similar abilities to him which is why none of you are to leave the Sanctuary at all including you Alister. Understand?"

Asger looked her right in the eyes as he answered, "I understand."

Valka held his gaze a moment longer before nodding in satisfaction at his words and addressed them all, "Now Cloudjumper and I are going to head back out again to keep an eye on what they are doing so remain here and please don't worry about what's happening, provided we keep them away from here the Sanctuary should remain safe." Cloudlumper had finished speaking to the King and she climbed gracefully onto his back, "We'll be back soon and if we're lucky they should all eventually give up and leave without ever locating this place."

She gave them all a reassuring smile before Cloudjumper took to the air and headed off out of the Sanctuary again. As the kids watched them leave none of them noticed Alister also disappear along with Icebolt towards the cave they'd been staying in where the boy had been keeping his sword.

* * *

 _ **PS-So was the battle between Drago and the Red Death epic enough? Please let me know what you thought and I'll try and update soon.**_


	14. The Risks of Disobedience

_**Author's Note:**_

 _ **Hello everyone and welcome to the next chapter. Sorry it's been a while but I had things happening most evenings last week and then I bought a new game but I've finally updated. Things pick up in this chapter and of course Drago now has Dragon Island, we also reveal more of the Titan's powers so I hope you like which ones they have. Thank you for your continued support and I hope you enjoy the chapter.**_

 _ **I own nothing.**_

* * *

 **The Risks of Disobedience**

Amber sat thoughtfully on a boulder as Leif paced around tensely.

They had found evidence of their quarry and had dutifully followed what little trail there was but they hadn't found any sign of the rider's hideout. Amber had guessed that they were following a false trail so they'd stopped to review their options and plan their next move. Leif was impatient to get moving since he was certain that their target was in the opposite direction to the false trail but Amber felt that was too obvious. Leif stopped pacing and glared at her, "What are we waiting for Amber? They must be in that direction, leading us the opposite way from their hideout is the most obvious thing for them to do!"

"Exactly," The girl answered, "That's why I'm certain they haven't done that because they would've thought that we'd see through their ruse eventually."

Leif rolled his eyes, "C'mon Amber, they're kids. There's no way they could have thought of things on that level, they're not good enough to do so. They're lower than us in every way."

The girl raised an eyebrow, "Your arrogance is going to cost you one day Leif."

He snorted and resumed pacing as Amber once again began thinking about what would be the best move.

* * *

Alister hadn't taken long to gather his things, he travelled light and he knew he didn't have to go far.

When they'd last met he'd been too focused on rescuing Icebolt to care much about dealing properly with Savage but now he knew where his father's betrayer was he wasn't going to let the chance of vengeance slip away. The man needed to pay for what he'd done five years before and today was the day to do it, he knew that Gustav was also there but he now knew what the boy could do so he wouldn't be caught off guard again. Icebolt would also be with him and he trusted the dragon to watch his back while he dealt with Savage.

He was slightly sorry to leave the Sanctuary like this, he'd actually done as Valka had suggested and had been watching the kids interact with the dragons and he couldn't deny that there seemed to evidence of what she'd told him. The more he watched the more he noticed that the dragons were far more than animals and far more than the lone hunters he knew. He'd seen how the dragons played with the kids like they were their own young, how they nursed them, fed them, provided comfort and occasional discipline. He'd also noticed their family connections, Fishlegs and Meatlug's many sisters and loving parents, Ruffnut and Tuffnut and Barf and Belch's forever exasperated mother, Astrid and Stormfly's playful brothers and their sensible but fun father, Snotlout and Hookfang's parents who were so protective of their youngest and Hiccup and Toothless who loved both Valka and Cloudjumper equally and of course the ever watchful Bewilderbeast who was always there for the young humans of his nest and offered a continuous feeling of security to all under his command. These things had shown him far more than he thought and he was slightly regretful to leave now but he'd promised himself to one day face Savage again and he had to take the moment while it was here.

Strapping his sword to his side he checked it was secure before leading Icebolt out to one of the Sanctuary exits making sure no one saw him, after what he'd seen he was certain any of the dragons would try and stop him out of concern for his safety but he couldn't let them. They reached the exit unnoticed and Alister mounted Icebolt, he gave one look back as the guilt for his lie to Valka added itself to his regret but he quickly turned forward and Icebolt took to the air.

They didn't head straight for the enemy camp but instead swung away and around it to come at it from the opposite direction of the Sanctuary, both to surprise their foes and to keep the Sanctuary safe from discovery. As they flew Alister pushed all thoughts of what he'd left behind back to focus entirely on his mission and he carefully constructed his plan of attack.

As he did this he was completely unaware of two people watching him and Icebolt fly overhead.

* * *

Snotlout and Hookfang were on their way to Alister's cave.

A while after Valka had left he'd noticed that the older boy had disappeared and he and Hookfang had decided to check on him. Truthfully Snotlout didn't like him very much at all but he'd noticed that the boy had been less overconfident and critical of him and the others, instead he'd opted for quietly watching as they had all played together as normal and he'd wondered if maybe they'd been a bit too hard on him themselves.

As they approached the cave Snotlout called out, "Hey Alister! Are you in there?"

He didn't receive an answer and he frowned, they didn't really come here much but he was certain that Icebolt would've at least stuck his head out to see who it was, the Skrill was very protective of his rider and he was always on the watch for potential threats. He tried calling out again, "It's me Snotlout!"

Again there was no response and he looked at Hookfang in confusion, "That's odd."

He could sense that his brother was as confused as he was, especially since the scents of both boy and Skrill were quite clear, and they both walked carefully up to the cave entrance and peered in as Snotlout called out for a third time, "We were wondering if…huh!?"

They both stared at the empty cave and their eyes widened as they realised that everything the other boy had was gone including his sword. The scents told him that they hadn't been gone long and Snotlout turned to his brother in alarm, "He must have gone out to the vents. We need to go after him and stop him!"

Hookfang growled in response and Snotlout felt the worry roll from his brother as he suggested they tell one of the elder dragons instead of going after him themselves. The boy understood why his brother said that but he was certain it would take too long, "I don't want to do it this way either but Icebolt flies fast, by the time we tell someone and they make a decision Alister and Icebolt might've already reached the men's camp. We need to go now!"

Hookfang growled in worry and trepidation and Snotlout patted his snout reassuringly, "I know but there isn't time. If he gets to the camp before we stop him then we'll turn right around and come straight back here, we won't go anywhere near those men."

The Nightmare hesitated for a moment more before reluctantly letting his human brother onto his neck, he then headed as fast as he could towards one of the exits and took to the air hoping he wasn't making a big mistake.

* * *

Amber's keen ears picked up the sound of a dragon's wingbeats and she and Leif quickly took cover as Icebolt and Alister flew overhead, spotting the boy on the Skrill's back she muttered quietly to the other Titan, "It's one of the dragon riders!"

Leif made to rise, "Let's get him then."

Amber stopped him, "No! We're supposed to be finding their hideout, besides I bet he's heading for our camp and there's more than enough people to deal with him there."

"Then what do you suggest we do?"

She smiled, "Simple, we head in the direction he came from. Their hideout must be somewhere that way, maybe even closer than we think considering he's travelling alone."

Leif smiled as well, "I see, if he's not being that careful to remain unseen then they must be somewhere nearby."

"Exactly, now let's head that way and find them."

They hadn't been travelling long when Amber heard more wingbeats in the distance, noting they weren't getting closer she silently gestured to a tree and Leif nodded, moving quickly the male Titan acrobatically jumped from branch to branch and climbed at a speed that would put a squirrel to shame. He briefly scanned the sky around them before quickly descending to the ground once more, both Titans held a quick whispered conversation before nodding and separating to take their positions.

They had a plan.

* * *

Hookfang was flying as fast as he could while Snotlout strained his eyes trying to spot Icebolt and Alister ahead of them.

Hookfang got more and more uneasy the further they travelled and Snotlout sensed it, "We'll head back Hookfang. If we haven't seen him by now then he must be way too far ahead for us to catch up before he reaches the camp."

The Nightmare rumbled in relief and began to turn around to head for home, as he did so he suddenly stiffened and then began flying in an entirely different direction. Snotlout tried to correct his brother, "Hookfang, where are you going? Home is the other way!"

Hookfang didn't answer and Snotlout tried tapping him on his head, "Hookfang!?" The boy now couldn't sense his brother's emotions as well as he usually could and he began to worry, "Hookfang, what's wrong?" Again he got no response and he began to get scared, "Hookfang, please stop. Tell me what's wrong!"

Snotlout saw they were getting closer to a rocky island with a natural bowl in the centre and then he felt something tickle at his consciousness. It was like some sort of pull that was compelling him to head the same way Hookfang was, it was easily ignored but it was consistently there trying to draw him towards the island. They got closer and the strains of some melody could be dimly heard but getting louder, the song seemed to be weaving with the pull in his mind and Snotlout was certain it was responsible for what was going on. Somehow the song was hypnotising Hookfang and the boy knew he had to snap his dragon out of it.

He placed his forehead against his brother's between his horns and tried to see if he could force the song out of the dragon's head. His mother had once done something similar for him when he had the same consistent nightmare for weeks when he was a lot smaller and he hoped he could do the same for his brother. If anything the song grew stronger as they got closer and Snotlout couldn't sense Hookfang's emotions at all, somehow his brother's other senses were being muted as well because he wasn't showing any signs of noticing Snotlout's growing fear.

The song got much louder and the boy realised they had landed in the island's natural bowl and he looked up to see an auburn haired girl standing nearby, she had a harp and was singing the song that had hypnotised Hookfang. Suddenly she stopped and looked straight at him, "Hello."

The moment the song stopped Hookfang returned to his senses and he growled at the girl as he made to fly away from her, she simply smiled, "I'm afraid you're not going anywhere."

There was a sound of someone running and Snotlout whipped his head round in time to see a blonde boy shoot by and quickly jab his finger into Hookfang's neck, the Nightmare went to snap at him but he suddenly froze like a statue and Snotlout shouted at his brother in panic, "HOOKFANG!"

"That's not going to do anything." The fair headed boy scornfully spoke, "I can completely paralyse anything with one jab just like a Speed Stinger."

Snotlout looked down at his paralysed brother and he sensed the dragon telling him to run, not wanting to leave him but seeing the sense in his wish Snotlout dived off his back and began to sprint away. He hadn't got far when something wrapped round his legs causing him to fall forward, he flung his hands out just in time to stop himself smashing his face into the ground and quickly rolled onto his back to see what had tripped him. An amber-like substance had splattered around his ankles and seemed to have instantly solidified into rock, he tried to break through but the amber was too strong for him to make a dent.

A shadow fell over him and he looked up to see the girl standing over him, he felt himself being hauled up and he realised that the boy was holding his hands behind his back. He was roughly turned and he felt more of the weird amber splatter over his wrists binding his hands together before he was turned back again. The girl gave an apologetic smile, "I know it doesn't seem like it but we're actually helping you, our father is certain you'll be great but we know you won't come willingly so we have to do this." She breathed in before firing more of the amber substance from her mouth, it struck him on the torso and it solidified around his arms pinning them to his sides and she smiled apologetically again, "You'll want to keep your mouth closed."

Before he could ask why more of the amber splattered over his closed mouth sealing it shut more effectively than any gag could, he looked at his captors and tried to speak giving forth only muffled noises. The girl shrugged, "I'm Amber and this is Leif. As I said we're actually doing this to help you, you've got something special."

Snotlout raised his eyebrows in fearful confusion and Amber patted his head, "You're going to be a Titan just like us."

* * *

 _ **PS-Snotlout is now captured and Asger's off to take revenge. Please let me know what you thought and I'll try and update sooner this time.**_


	15. Rider against Titan

_**Author's Note:**_

 _ **Hello everyone and welcome to another chapter. A lot of action in this one so hopefully I do it justice and the last Titan powers are revealed. I may not update very much in the next couple of weeks, I've got a project I need to finish before the end of the week for my nephew's present and then I have family up for Christmas week so time for writing will be fairly short. I may get another update or two in but if I do it'll be more of a bonus because I somehow found time to do it. Thank you for your continued support and I hope you enjoy the chapter.**_

 _ **I own nothing.**_

* * *

 **Rider against Titan**

Savage had been caught entirely unawares by Alister.

The boy had struck swiftly and accurately and the man had only just avoided the sword blade that had been swung in his direction. Shouts of surprise filled the camp as Icebolt came close behind his rider and fired lightning bolts left right and centre, men dashed around like crazy thinking they were under a major attack. Savage had managed to keep most of his wits and he quickly drew his own sword and faced Alister, "Are ye sure ye want to take me on boy?"

The boy just smiled at him, "Of course I do, yer the reason my father's gone and it's time for payback."

Wasting no more time on words Alister moved in and their fight began in earnest.

* * *

Further away Valka had been caught up in a fight with Erika as she'd returned to the thermal vents to do a bit of spying.

She'd almost been taken out by a very accurate arrow fired by the girl but Cloudjumper had fortunately seen the shaft coming and had quickly dodged it. The girl had then attempted some fire blasts but the Stormcutter easily avoided those as well, not wanting to get embroiled in an all-out fight Valka quickly spoke to her dragon partner, "C'mon Cloudjumper let's head out over those thick trees, without flight she won't be able to follow us and will be forced to give up."

The Stormcutter growled in agreement and quickly winged away over where Valka had said, as they flew over the trees Valka looked back and saw something she couldn't believe.

Erika was sprinting straight through the forest cutting down any tree that got in her way with her bare arms just like a Timberjack. Knowing she'd have to change her tack Valka quickly whispered some instructions to Cloudjumper and the dragon did exactly as she said.

Suddenly the Stormcutter turned in the air and shot towards the chasing Titan and fired a fire ball at the last moment, Erika was caught off guard and she quickly dodged the incoming missile. Cloudjumper zipped overhead and shot up into the clouds and vanished from view just as the Titan recovered from her unexpected evasive manoeuvres. Erika glimpsed the dragon vanishing and growled in frustration before quickly retracing her steps and returning to the camp.

* * *

In yet another section of the island Dagur and Gustav had found some wild dragons.

They weren't Monstrous Nightmares like Gustav wanted but they were Thunderdrums which were just as powerful and Dagur had jumped at the chance to fight them. It hadn't taken much to rile them up and soon they had three angry dragons to contend with.

Gustav was using a lot of his fire and soon the dragons had several scorch marks over their bodies, Dagur had yet to use his Titan powers and was taunting their foe by diving in, jabbing them with his sword and darting away again. The Thunderdrums had retaliated with their sonic roar and the combined force of all three was shattering rocks as they kept missing their agile tormenters. As the battle continued the dragons became more and more enraged until they were consumed by their desire to destroy the two Titans, seeing this Dagur gave a maniacal laugh, "Hey Gustav! Watch this!"

He suddenly stopped dodging about and held up his hands towards the dragons, the Thunderdrums saw their chance and charged towards him blinded by their rage. They didn't notice the energy crackling at his fingertips and just before they struck Dagur grinned and released the energy.

Lightning shot out from his hands and arced straight towards the Thunderdrums, the dragons roared in agony as the electricity surged through the bodies and soon they were writhing on the ground in pain as Dagur stood and laughed. Eventually the lightning stopped and the bodies of the three Thunderdrums lay in a smoking heap with an occasional wing or limb jerking as leftover electricity ran through it. Dagur was still grinning as he looked away from the dead dragons and spoke to Gustav, "Well that was fun. Do you think I overdid it Gustav."

The younger Titan regarded the bodies for a moment before carelessly shrugging, "Nah, don't think so."

Dagur also looked back at his handiwork, "Fair enough. Let's head back to the camp and see if Amber's got back and found something else for us to fight."

Gustav nodded in agreement and the two Titans walked away from the tragic results of Dagur's need for violence.

* * *

Back in the camp Icebolt had done an excellent job in keeping the men away from Alister and Savage. Though they were trappers they weren't used to a dragon assaulting them out of the blue in their own camp and none of their usual traps were available to help them.

As they were occupied by the Skrill, Savage had his hands full trying to handle Alister. As he'd suspected the boy's skills had improved and it didn't take him long to realise he was fighting a losing battle. He tried hard to fend the boy off but Alister had both skill and vengeful rage on his side and was rapidly nearing victory.

Suddenly the ground beneath them rumbled and Alister found himself flung back as the earth erupted under his feet. He managed to catch himself as he fell back and he stood ready just in time to see Nova burst from the ground, the Titan stood and gave a small smile to the boy, "You know it wasn't that smart to come here with just your dragon as back up."

Alister snarled at him, "Icebolt's the only back up I need, I'm more than good enough to take ye on."

Nova's smile grew, "Well if you want to fight me go ahead, I'll even order the men to not interfere since they'll ruin the fun of single combat with a skilled opponent."

"What happens when I beat ye, are yer men all going to gang up on me like the cowards they are?"

Nova shook his head, "Not at all, if you beat me then you can continue on to face Captain Savage as that seems to be your real aim. Once you've beaten him you're free to leave on your dragon but if I win I'll take you and your Skrill back to my father as prisoners, does that sound fair enough?"

Alister narrowed his eyes and thought before finally answering, "That sounds fair to me."

Nova gave a full grin as he signalled his men to back away, "Excellent."

They both tensed as Alister tightened his grip on his sword and Nova readied his DragonClaw Gauntlets, they then slowly began circling each other searching for an opening in the other's defences. Noticing one Alister swiftly lunged forward for a quick starting striking but found Nova's gauntlets swiftly blocking his blade, the Titan pushed the boy back and Alister was thrown off balance. He quickly regained his footing and made to counter when Nova burrowed rapidly into the ground and vanished, the dragon rider was thrown slightly and was caught off guard when the Titan resurfaced just beneath him. He found himself being tossed forward and Alister landed hard on his front, he quickly rolled and narrowly avoided Nova's fist which smashed into the ground cracking it slightly. Leaping to his feet Alister tried to take advantage of the moment and swung his blade at his opponent but the Titan just dived back into the earth where his fist had impacted. Now readied for what was coming, Alister waited patiently for the first tremors indicating his foe resurfacing and agilely jumped aside as Nova once again came up beneath him, he swung his sword once more and the Titan had just enough time to block it with his gauntlets and disappeared back down the hole he'd just created. Alister once again prepared for him resurfacing but Nova shot out of one of his previously created holes right behind him and brought his knee right into the rider's back. Alister gave a shout of surprise and pain as he once again was flung forwards to land on his stomach, before he could recover Nova planted his foot on his back and held him in place, "Well kid it looks like I've won. You and your dragon are coming with me."

Icebolt had stayed out of the fight out of respect for his rider but seeing Alister in imminent danger caused the Skrill to surge forward with a roar, Nova flicked one of his arms and a sharp spine flew out of it and buried itself in the dragon's leg causing Icebolt to collapse. The surrounding men made to pounce on and secure the Skrill but a unique shrieking noise was heard.

They'd just realised what it was when a blue blast impacted among the men sending them flying, Hiccup and Toothless zipped by over their heads and Alister took advantage of it to grab a distracted Nova's leg and pull it making him crash to the ground, he shot up and rushed over to Icebolt as another plasma blast crashed in amongst the enemy from Toothless' second pass. The well-known form of Cloudjumper appeared alongside a Nightmare Alister recognised as Snotlout's adoptive father, between them the two dragons hauled the Skrill up allowing him to get his wings working and take flight. Cloudjumper then swooped low beside Alister and he found himself being dragged onto the dragon's back by Valka before the Stormcutter began flying rapidly after Hiccup, Toothless and Snotlout's father. They shot into the concealment of the clouds and Alister looked back at Valka, who was riding behind him, and felt himself gulp at the look on her face.

She was angry.

* * *

 _ **PS-So all Titan powers are now known, please let me know what you thought and I'll try and update as soon as life allows.**_


	16. Discipline

_**Author's Note:**_

 _ **Hello everyone and I managed to find enough time to produce another chapter. Its aftermath stuff but hopefully it's still okay. Thank you for your continued support and I hope you enjoy the chapter.**_

 _ **I own nothing.**_

* * *

 **Discipline**

The camp was devastated since Icebolt hadn't spared his lightning blasts when he and Alister attacked it and the cracked ground and holes from Nova and Alister's duel didn't help things either.

Nova stood by watching the men clear the debris as well as they could with a stony expression on his face. He heard someone approach and the familiar voice of Erika was heard, "Did you guys have a raving party or something?"

The boy didn't bother turning around as he answered her, "No, one of those dragon riders attacked the camp directly and his Skrill was firing lightning bolts everywhere. It fried most of the camp."

The girl casually ambled up to him and observed the clean-up, "I thought you'd be able to handle one kid and a dragon. Where are they now?"

He frowned, "I'd just beaten the boy and we were about to claim the Skrill when that Night Fury showed up as well. Then that woman also appeared along with a Stormcutter and a Nightmare and whisked both the kid and the dragon away."

"So they all escaped then."

Nova ignored her disparaging tone as he noticed Gustav and Dagur returning. Dagur looked around at the devastation, "Don't tell me we missed all the fun."

Gustav also sounded disappointed, "I thought we would have had the most fun destroying three Thunderdrums but it looks like things were more entertaining here."

Erika rolled her eyes, "Most people wouldn't refer to being attacked by the dragon riders as fun but then you never did care for sensibility did you Dagur."

The Titan in question grinned, "Any form of violence is fun Erika, especially when you're the person causing most of the injuries."

Gustav looked around at the remains of the camp, "Amber and Leif are going to be annoyed. While there off trying to find the riders the riders have all come right to us instead. They'll have probably not found much because of it."

"Don't speak too soon Gustav."

They all looked round at Amber's and saw her and Leif standing there. The two Titans smiled and stood to the side as Amber spoke again, "We've got a very important guest you just have to meet."

As they stood aside the terrified form of the bound and gagged Snotlout was revealed.

* * *

The flight back to the Sanctuary was exceptionally tense and Alister could feel the anger rolling off Valka as they travelled. They flew in silence and Alister didn't dare say anything at all, Icebolt was largely flying fine but it was clear that his leg wound was paining him greatly and the boy felt very guilty knowing full well that the Skrill's wound was at least partly his fault.

The Sanctuary came into sight and they flew straight in and towards the central pool where the Bewilderbeast was waiting. A miserable Hookfang was also there before the Alpha and it looked like the dragon King was in the middle of speaking to him very seriously. Snotlout's mother was worriedly hanging around as well and the moment she saw her returning mate she was instantly over by him and was growling anxiously, her mate gave a few growls of his own in answer and she wilted sadly. Most of the other dragons and the rest of the kids except Snotlout were gathered around the pool obviously awaiting their return.

Cloudjumper landed and Valka swiftly dismounted and hurried over to Icebolt who'd landed awkwardly and began examining his wounded leg, Alister also dismounted and quietly came up and began stroking the Skrill's snout. He was very aware of the eyes of many dragons on him and he chose to keep his focus on Icebolt. The Bewilderbeast had finished speaking to Hookfang and the Nightmare slunk guiltily back to his parents as the Alpha turned his gaze upon Alister and the boy reluctantly looked up at him and saw the disappointment in his eyes before quickly looking down at the floor.

The silence stretched on until the Bewilderbeast finally gave a low rumble and most of the gathered dragons dispersed along with Hiccup and the other kids, Snotlout's parents retreated a short distance away along with Hookfang and the younger Nightmare received another serious talk from them. Valka had finished examining Icebolt's wound and had dressed it and she stood and turned to the boy, "Icebolt's wound was deep but not serious, it'll heal in time."

Her voice was tight as she spoke and Alister simply nodded. There was a long, tense silence and Valka spoke once more, "Do you wish to explain anything to me?"

Alister continued staring at the ground and didn't reply and Valka spoke once more, "Look at me young man." He picked up on her commanding tone and did as ordered and she continued, "What were you thinking? Do you know what your actions have caused?"

Normally Alister would have answered sharply or angrily at someone speaking to him like that but something in Valka's tone reminded him of his father and he nervously answered, "I caused Icebolt to get hurt."

Valka continued to stare down at him, "That's not all Alister. By lying directly to me and going after those men on your own when you'd been specifically told to stay you not only caused the conditions that wounded Icebolt but you almost got both of you captured. You were lucky that Hiccup and Toothless had discovered you'd gone and told me or we wouldn't have got to you in time." Alister looked down again shamefully and Valka pressed on with her lecture, "On top of that your decision to disobey me has resulted in Snotlout being captured!"

Alister's eyes shot up in alarm, "What!"

Valka glared down at him, "He discovered that you'd gone before Hiccup did and he and Hookfang went after you to make you come back to the Sanctuary. On the way they were intercepted by two of those kids who apparently have powers the way Gustav did, Hookfang was paralyzed and they took Snotlout away and we can't find him."

"They must've taken him to their camp, we need to get there and rescue him!"

Valka quickly cut across him, "You won't be going anywhere! We've already lost Snotlout, nearly lost you and we've risked Hiccup rescuing you so none of you kids are going even an inch beyond these walls anytime soon. We've also guessed that they've taken Snotlout to their camp but because of you attacking them they're not going to hang around, as soon as they've got him they're going to ship out back to their base and they'll be expecting a rescue so we now have to go carefully. If we get this wrong it could well cause Snotlout more harm than good."

Alister had cringed slightly at her harsh tone and he answered ashamedly, "I'm sorry. I didn't think it would all happen this way. I had to face Savage for what he did to my father."

"And you think assaulting him amongst all his men with only Icebolt for back-up was the best way to go about it!?" Valka practically yelled, "You were outnumbered and as powerful as he is Icebolt can only do so much, how on earth did you think that either of you would get away again!?"

The boy didn't answer knowing full well he didn't have one and his eyes once more fell to stare at the ground. Valka sighed, "Icebolt is well enough to return to your cave but he'll need to rest so you'll both return there and neither of you are leaving it until further notice. I'll come and speak to you again later."

Alister slowly nodded as Icebolt carefully stood and he turned to do as he was told when Valka spoke once more, "Alister," He turned back and the woman held out her hand, "Give me your sword. I think its best if I keep it until you prove you can be trusted."

Alister looked down at his weapon and slowly unbuckled it from his side, then with great reluctance he placed it in Valka's waiting hand. He stood back and looked up at her, she gave a curt nod and he turned and trudged towards his cave moving slowly to make it easier for the wounded Icebolt to follow.

* * *

 _ **PS-So Asger is grounded and Snotlout is with the Titans, I'll show more of what's happening to him next chapter but I probably update for a while. Merry Christmas and I'll update when I can.**_


	17. Cabins, Blame and Plans

_**Author's Note:**_

 _ **Hello everyone and Happy New Year. After the festive break I am now back and I'll hopefully start updating my stories more regularly again. In this chapter we return to Snotlout and we get a bit of Hiccup as well so some of you will be pleased to hear that. Thank you for your continued support of this story and I hope you enjoy the chapter.**_

 _ **I own nothing.**_

* * *

 **Cabins, Blame and Plans**

Terrified was an excellent way to described how Snotlout was currently feeling.

It had only been amplified when the two people who'd captured him (he'd later discovered they were called Amber and Leif) had left the paralysed Hookfang behind. The short trip back to the Titan's camp had been tense and uncomfortable as he'd been bound and gagged by the weird amber stuff the whole way, being faced with the other four Titans had cranked his fear up even higher and by then it was all Snotlout could do to not burst into tears.

Since they'd captured their main goal the Titans saw little need in remaining and it wasn't long before what was left of their camp was being packed up and moved onto the ship. Snotlout was also carried aboard and once he was on the deck Amber shattered his amber bonds allowing him to move about on his own, he stood fearfully where he was as the girl spoke to a man Snotlout recognised as being one of the gang he saw on Healers Island, "Magnus, take the boy down below to one of the cabins. Assign one of the slaves to look after him but do not allow him to leave his cabin unless we Titans say otherwise."

The man briefly bowed, "As you wish Lady Amber."

He grabbed Snotlout's arm and led him below deck and the boy looked around anxiously at his strange surroundings. Having grown up in the Bewilderbeast's Sanctuary the artificial surroundings of a human ship were confusing and scary to him, the pungent tang of metal was everywhere and so many human scents were piled on top of each other that he had difficulty singling out any of them. The scent of wood was also very prominent but unlike the comforting, natural scent he'd encountered from what trees he'd been near it was…wrong, like it was somehow warped by simply being on this vessel.

He was pulled through the ship until he found himself being pushed forward through a rectangular archway, as he stumbled into the space beyond he heard a thud and an odd clanking behind him and he turned to see a series of metal bound wooden planks blocking the way he'd come in. He pushed against them only to discover that they weren't moving and he stood back in confusion. He thought about this odd occurrence for a moment before deciding that the planks were actually what his Aunt Valka had once said was called a 'door', this then deepened his confusion because he was sure she'd said that doors were meant to open allowing you to go through them so why wouldn't this one. He pushed it a couple of more times and tried kicking it but it still didn't let him through and he eventually gave up. Trying to discover the mysterious workings of the 'door' had actually distracted him from his terrifying situation slightly and he began examining the rest of what he guessed was his 'cabin'.

It was small, about a quarter of the size of his parent's cave in the Sanctuary, and had what he recognised as a small desk. It was similar to the only other one he'd seen in Hiccup and Aunt Valka's cave which his aunt had made herself and was basically four legs, a writing surface and a small draw, with it was a single wooden chair, also like the one in Hiccup and Aunt Valka's cave. At the back was some sort of wooden shelf built into the wall with some sort of funny looking, thick fur on top of it, he walked over and gently prodded it to discover it was indeed soft but it definitely wasn't fur. He wondered if it was some sort of weird leather then he decided that it was probably something else because it felt completely different from the furs and leather he and the other kids wore. Stepping back he studied the odd shelf some more before realising that it was likely a bed similar to what his aunt slept in though hers was a natural stone ledge with furs thrown on it.

With nothing else present in the cabin he cautiously sniffed the air and found the overpowering metal and human scents from the rest of the ship were much less prominent and he wondered if door somehow magically blocked them as well as not opening for him. The weird, warped wood smell was there but he could pick out the scents of the items in the area easily, the desk and the chair smelt of pine which he'd encountered before, the bed was the same wood as the rest of the ship but the bizarre furs on top had a unique scent he hadn't come across before and didn't tell him any more about what they were.

Now he'd completely familiarised himself with his cabin there was nothing else to distract him and he slumped dejectedly on the floor as his situation once again took over his thoughts and his fear returned. He wondered if Hookfang had been found yet or if he was still paralysed, his mum and dad will have definitely noticed their absence by now and were probably searching for them frantically. This wasn't much comfort to him since he knew that he was trapped on a ship full of bad humans and he hugged his knees wishing he hadn't charged off after Alister like he had. He remembered his aunt and parent's warnings about humans and the dangers that were out in the world and he suddenly felt incredibly lonely thinking about them.

The realisation then hit that for the first time in his life he wasn't anywhere near his friends and family and was in this situation entirely alone. He buried his face into his bent knees and cried.

* * *

Hiccup sat with Toothless by the Bewilderbeast's pool in silence their thoughts entirely focused on Snotlout and worrying about what was happening to him.

The Alpha himself was in the pool as he normally was but he was also silent as he pondered the same things as the two young brothers before him. Most of the other dragons had retreated to their own caves while several were out with Cloudjumper and Valka keeping an eye on Snotlout's captors waiting for a chance to rescue him. Fear and worry were very prominent around the Sanctuary and a feeling of gloom hung over the usually peaceful realm.

Hiccup heard soft footsteps from behind him and he recognised Astrid's scent as she came closer, the girl sat down beside him and they both remained silent for a short while until Astrid finally spoke quietly, "Do you think Snotlout's okay?"

Hiccup sighed, "I hope so."

They were silent for a bit longer until Astrid kicked at the ground, "Why did Alister do it?" Hiccup could sense the girls anger at the older boy as she continued, "It's his fault this happened!"

Hiccup didn't answer her, it seemed Astrid had placed blame firmly on the rider but Hiccup had been too worried about Snotlout to think about blaming someone else. If he did he wasn't sure he could entirely blame the older boy, yes he shouldn't have gone off after the enemy himself but you could argue that if Snotlout had just told someone what had happened instead of going after him then he would have avoided being captured. You could also argue that if Hookfang hadn't agreed to his brother's idea then it also wouldn't have happened or the whole thing could've been avoided if Hiccup's mother hadn't told Alister where the camp was in the first place meaning the boy knew where to go. In short there wasn't much point in placing blame on anyone but considering Snotlout and Hookfang were Astrid's friends it was understandable that she'd rather place all the blame on Alister.

Instead of worrying about whose fault it was Hiccup had focused on what could be done now to help his cousin but he wasn't getting much in the way of ideas. They couldn't leave the Sanctuary and even at ten Hiccup understood that simply attacking Snotlout's captors and hoping for the best was a pretty stupid idea. He had faith that his mother would come up with something but it was going to be difficult, from what they'd seen these humans were skilled at fighting dragons and when you added the superpowers things looked pretty bad.

After her brief outburst about Alister Astrid had fallen silent again and they remained that way as both children and dragons thought about what had happened.

* * *

Across the Archipelago another dragon was sat in thought.

He was a Rumblehorn and he was a highly skilled hunter and a wanderer by choice but his thoughts were currently focused on a very different hunt from what he usually did. Instead of prey he was hunting for an old friend who'd vanished and he was eager to find the only one he would call 'alpha'. He heard another dragon approach but he was unconcerned since his highly tuned senses told him that it was another long-term friend of his.

There was a flapping of wings and a soft thump and the Rumblehorn turned to greet the newly arrived Snow Wraith.

She returned his greeting and growled to enquire about what he was doing and he briefly informed her about his 'hunt'. At his answer she became concerned and worry emanated from her, she also thought of his missing friend as 'alpha' and she didn't like the fact they'd apparently vanished.

She suggested that they locate the other scattered members of their 'pack' to see if they knew what had happened but the Rumblehorn growled in disagreement. He told her the idea he'd been pondering over and she grunted in surprise, what he was suggesting hadn't actually been done before in the history of their 'pack' but after further consideration she agreed that the circumstances may warrant it.

Their plan of action settled both the Rumblehorn and the Snow Wraith took to the sky and flew together towards the most central island of the Archipelago.

* * *

 _ **PS-So mysterious new characters though it is slightly difficult to write a scene between dragons when they don't actually use words but I hope it worked anyway. Please let me know what you thought and I'll hopefully update soon.**_


	18. The Man and the Artefact

_**Author's Note:**_

 _ **Hello everyone and welcome to another chapter. This one is focused upon Snotlout and contains a lot more information about how Drago became who he is and how the Titans came to be. Thank you for your continued support and I hope you all enjoy the chapter.**_

 _ **I own nothing.**_

* * *

 **The Man and the Artefact**

A clunking sound distracted Snotlout from his tears and he looked round to see the door open.

The man called Magnus entered accompanied by another man who Snotlout didn't recognise. Unlike the other men Snotlout had seen this second one didn't have any weapons nor the armour the others did, there was a distinct lack of metal on his person allowing the boy to pick up his actual natural scent much easier. The man also looked distinctly less fed than Magnus and the others and he wondered why that was the case and why his clothing seemed fairly tattered when compared to the clothing of the rest of his captors. Magnus gestured towards Snotlout, "This is the kid, you're to keep him well fed and tend to his needs but he's not allowed to leave the cabin without permission from one of the Titans…" He roughly shoved the other man, "Are you listening!?"

The man he was addressing had been staring at Snotlout in what seemed like shock but the shove brought him back to reality, "Yes sir, sorry sir. He's to be treated well but can't leave the cabin unless their Lord or Ladyships say otherwise."

Magnus grunted, "And don't you forget it. You might be held in higher regard than most and been assigned to this by Titan Gustav but you're still a slave and easily replaced so don't mess it up."

The other man lowered his head, "Yes sir."

Magnus grunted in satisfaction and dumped something in the man's hand before striding back through the door and slamming it closed leaving just the two of them. There was a long silence where Snotlout stared at the man warily and the man stared back in what looked like confusion, he then shook his head and spoke to the boy, "Are you hungry?"

Snotlout didn't answer and looked down and the man tried a different question, "Can you understand me?"

"Yes."

Snotlout had briefly looked up as he answered and he looked down again and the man spoke again, "So are you hungry because I can easily get you some food if you are."

"Why?"

"Because I'm supposed to be looking after you."

"But why?"

It didn't make sense to Snotlout and the man seemed to realise this, "My masters, the Titans, want you to be in the best health possible when we reach the Fortress. You're really important to them and the King."

Snotlout looked away, "I want to go home."

The man sighed, "I wish I could do that for you but it's not possible." He crouched down so he was at Snotlout's eye level, "There are things like that which I can't help you with but I want to look after you the best I can and not just because I've been ordered to." Snotlout looked back at him and found he could sense the man's sincerity and the man continued, "So do you need something to eat."

Snotlout averted his eyes once more and sighed, "Yes."

The man gave a small smile, "Okay then, I'll be back with some food soon, promise."

Snotlout just nodded and the man stood up and the boy heard the clunking sound again as he left the cabin. He once again began hugging his knees but felt just a little bit less lonely than he had before the man had entered.

* * *

Saphia strode through the halls of the Nest feeling particularly pleased.

A messenger had arrived informing her of King Drago's victory at Dragon Island and the addition of a great many dragons to his army. He had decided to turn the island into a sort of outpost for the Fortress and she'd been organising the transport of supplies, materials and slaves to begin construction on the island. The King himself was remaining on the island with Heather, Newt and Anthea to oversee the work but was sending the twins and Akila back to the Nest. This was excellent news but just before she sent a return message another appeared with even better news.

They had the boy.

Saphia had nearly broken into a dance of delight when she'd received that message and had made sure to include it in her message to the King. They were a couple of days sailing away from the Fortress but Saphia could feel her excitement building at the thought of a new Titan and had headed straight for the Nest's top floor.

* * *

The Joining Chamber was set up as always and she immediately went over to the large cage and rapped her knuckle on one of the bars. There was a grunt and a sudden snarl and she stepped back chuckling as a large body slammed itself against the bars, "Looks like I caught you napping. You were much more alert than this when we first captured you."

She was answered with a growl and a couple more snarls and she began pacing around the cage, "I just thought you might like to know that my King's children have captured the child that has the Potential and they're bringing him here as I speak. It's only a matter of days now."

There was another growl and she smiled, "I thought you'd be a bit happier, you're about to help create the second strongest Titan and the heir to a great future empire." She shrugged, "Of course the boy will require training and tutoring in why this future empire is necessary, no doubt he'll be adverse to the idea to begin with but my lord is very persuasive. As a child he's a bit more open minded than most so I'm sure he'll come around."

She went over to a small locked chest at one end of the room and took out of it a key shaped crystal. It was fairly large for a key and had a small sphere at one end, around the sphere's sides were six symbols and a faint glow came from within it. She returned to the cage carrying it almost reverently, "This is what made it all possible, I don't know how but this holds an incredible amount of power. When placed within the apparatus it allows it to work and grant draconic powers to those with the Potential for it. I discovered this many years ago, long before I met my lord, and I carried it for a long time without knowing what it was capable of. My village was constantly ravaged by dragons and one day we were assaulted by a raid led by an Alpha itself. We thought we were doomed but Drago appeared and took on the mighty beast alone, he fought hard but the battle cost him his entire left arm. In desperation I threw him this to him on a whim and he used the last of his strength to stab it into the Alpha's head and that was when its power was truly revealed."

She looked up into the cage from where she'd been staring at the artefact in her hands, "When it was embedded into the Alpha's skull the dragon began shrieking in agony, the other dragons began scattering in a panic and we watched awestruck as the powers of the Bewilderbeast began flowing out of the dragon into Drago. We didn't know what had happened until the Alpha suddenly collapsed and died, Drago stepped off his defeated foe and raised this into the air."

She closed her eyes and smiled, "It was the most incredible sight of my life, he stood there and roared and as one all the dragons landed and bowed before him. From then on I knew he was the one to end the constant fear of dragons and put the world into order and I pledged to remain by his side to help him achieve it."

She opened her eyes, "I don't know how he did it but I think his will was so strong it enabled him to do what others could not, when we tried to replicate the results the people involved died and it took a while before we understood that only those with the Potential could ever receive draconic powers. Even then they could not simply use this artefact the way my lord Drago did and after a lot of study and experimentation we created this, the Joining Chamber." She gestured at the room around her, "This apparatus is the only way a Titan can be made without the artefact's power destroying them and this is how we gave the Twelve their powers."

She returned back to the chest and gently placed the artefact within it, "With this artefact, my lord's will, a powerful heir and this tremendous creation of mine we'll create a world where everyone knows their place. A world bound by strict laws that apply to both dragon and human, no more raids, no more pointless fights between the two, just a set order where all serve their masters who have the Gods-given gift which make them truly superior."

She turned from the chest and exclaimed towards the cage, "The ones who can become both human and dragon!"

As the creature in the cage roared in anger Saphia failed to notice the artefact briefly fill with a sinister darkness before returning to its normal faint glow.

* * *

 _ **PS-So one mysterious powerful artefact and can anyone guess who the mysterious man looking after Snotlout is? Please let me know what you thought and I'll try and update soon.**_


	19. Night

_**Author's Note:**_

 _ **Hello everyone and welcome to another chapter. This one is like a sweeping look at some of the areas around this world but I hope you like it all the same. Thank you for your continued support and I hope you enjoy the chapter.**_

 _ **I own nothing.**_

* * *

 **Night**

Darkness had fallen across the Archipelago and exhausted silence reigned in the crowded cell of Stoick's slave group. Most were asleep, dreaming of happier times before the harsh reality of their current lives, but Stoick was wide awake contemplating things.

He'd spent many nights like this thinking of Hiccup and wondering what he might be like now had he lived. He also thought about his nephew who'd only been a week old when Berk was destroyed, in some ways it was almost a relief that they'd died then. Now neither of them had to suffer countless days and years under the lash of cruel slave drivers, they were far from the world in a far better place alongside their mothers waiting for the day when Stoick joined them.

A shuffling at his side stirred him from his thoughts of his lost family and he looked down and gave a sad smile at the boy curled into his side in fitful sleep.

He was young, around fourteen or fifteen, with dark hair that was unkempt and roughly cut. He wore rags like the rest of them but he had slightly more layers thanks to donations from other adult slaves in their group and was a bit healthier because of the same adults donating a part of their own rations to him. Though far from being the only child slave of the Fortress he was the only one in that particular group which mostly consisted of people from just below Stoick's age up. The boy's mother had died in slavery not long after Stoick had been enslaved leaving him the only survivor of his tribe when it was conquered by the King and Stoick had ended up taking on the role of father, he'd possibly done so to alleviate some of his own grief at the loss of Hiccup but now he simply couldn't imagine life without the child.

The former chief placed a gentle arm around the boy's shoulders and the child made a small murmuring noise and snuggled in closer. Stoick sighed sadly, the last thing the boy's mother had managed to do was tell Stoick her son's name.

Eret, Son of Eret.

* * *

It was almost pitch black inside the cabin with only a thin sliver of light creeping in from under the door. Snotlout was on the bed finding it difficult to sleep and he tossed and turned unable to relax.

The main thing that he noticed was how cold it was, as far back as he could remember he'd always slept snuggled between his parents and if they weren't home for some reason then he curled up with Hookfang instead. That was the way it worked for most dragon families, usually dragons slept with their parents until they had a mate of their own at which point they'd move to their own nest, Hookfang was unusual in preferring to sleep in a cave of his own but he'd never objected to his younger brother snuggling up to him when his parents were absent. However Snotlout was nowhere near his family and the bed was cold and unwelcoming despite his best efforts to make some sort of nest out of the strange furs on it.

The now familier clunking announced the arrival of the man who looked after him and Snotlout sat up and saw him standing in the doorway. He was carrying a couple more of the strange furs and a candle, he sighed when he saw the wide awake boy, "I thought it might be too cold in here for you to sleep, that's why I brought you more blankets."

He gently entered the room and placed the candle on the desk before approaching Snotlout, "These should make you feel a lot warmer." He looked surprised at Snotlout's nest arrangement, "You're supposed to sleep under the blankets not on them."

Snotlout looked around his bed, sort of glad he now knew what the odd furs were called, and shrugged, "I didn't have enough to do that."

The man shook his head and then noticed something else, "Why aren't you using the pillow?"

Snotlout looked at the odd rectangular fur abandoned at the end of the bed, he actually didn't know what it was so he'd just left it there unsure what to do with it, "Didn't know what it was for."

There was another sigh and the man picked up the pillow and gave it to the boy, "You put it under your head."

Snotlout took the pillow uncertainly and placed it in his nest arrangement before tentatively placing his head on it. He found it sort of comfortable and snuggled down into his bed but still found it cold. He then felt a gentle weight over him and he realised that the man was covering his body with one of the extra blankets he'd brought, it was gently tucked around him and Snotlout felt a bit warmer. Another one was placed over him and the man gently tucked this one in as well doubling the warmth and Snotlout yawned. It was nowhere near as warm and comfortable as being snuggled between his parents but it was far better than the cold and he was starting to feel sleepy.

He snuggled down a bit more and the man smiled, "Is that better."

"Yeah."

The man nodded before picking up the candle off the desk and heading out the door, "I'll be here first thing in the morning with some food for you."

He was about to leave when Snotlout spoke once more, "What's your name?"

The man turned and hesitated before answering, "Spitelout."

Snotlout gave his first smile since he'd been captured, "Thank you Spitelout."

Spitelout nodded and smiled before leaving the cabin and gently closing the door behind him.

* * *

Sleep was proving elusive to Hookfang as he lay miserably in his cave worrying about his little brother.

He hadn't spoken to his parents since they'd reprimanded him for his recklessness, his father was of course furious but he'd sensed the underlying disappointment a slight relief that at least his eldest was alright. Hookfang himself was full of guilt and kept telling himself that he never should have agreed with Snotlout's idea, he also scolded himself for not doing more to help his brother and he'd never felt so helpless as when he stood frozen while the humans had simply taken his little brother away.

Hookfang unconsciously let out a mournful groan and closed his eyes sadly. Movement at the mouth of his cave caused him to look up to see his father in the entrance, Hookfang dropped his gaze shamefully as the elder Nightmare approached. His father nudged him and Hookfang looked up once more, the elder gestured with his head and the younger knew he was being told to follow. Obediently he stood and meekly followed his father through to the bigger cave of his parents, his mother was mournfully curled up on the stone shelf that was their bed and she raised her head at their approach. Hookfang once again dropped his gaze in guilt and it wasn't until his mother gave a small growl did he dare to look at her properly.

Her eyes were filled with sadness and worry for her youngest but behind that he also saw understanding as if she knew exactly how guilty he was feeling. She raised her wing and he understood what she was asking, he slowly made his way beside her and snuggled into her side with his head resting below hers. She placed her wing over him and nuzzled him between his horns as his father settled on his other side and placed his wing over him as well.

Hookfang slowly closed his eyes and together the family shared their sadness and worry for their missing member.

* * *

Far from any of these places, at the centre of the Archipelago the moon and stars were the only witnesses as a Rumblehorn and a Snow Wraith landed upon a small island.

At its heart stood a monolithic rock far older than anyone knew within an ancient clearing of the island's pine forest. It had three horn shaped protrusions around its top that stood above the tree tops and a single hole at its base and it was this stone that the two dragons wanted.

The Rumblehorn approached it reverently and the Snow Wraith rumbled something at him. The Rumblehorn answered and she nodded in understanding and stood back. He resumed his approach and was soon stood at the mighty stone's base. He hesitated a moment before steeling his resolve, he crouched by the hole and gave a mighty roar.

By some quirk of nature the stone took the roar and amplified it as it projected it out of its top and out across the surrounding seas where it could be heard for miles around.

In the Sanctuary of the Bewilderbeast Icebolt shot up from his sleeping position and dived outside to where he could stare across the sea in the direction of the island.

* * *

 _ **PS-So what do you think of that? Please let me know what you though and I'll try and update soon.**_


	20. Tale

_**Author's Note:**_

 _ **Hello everyone and hear is the twentieth chapter for you all. This one has a lot of Snotlout and Spitelout in it and none of the other riders but I'm intending to return to Hiccup and the others next chapter so don't worry. Thank you for your continued support and I hope you enjoy the chapter.**_

 _ **I own nothing.**_

* * *

 **Tale**

It had been two days since Snotlout had been captured and Spitelout was incredibly fond of the boy. He'd taken to eating with the boy himself and they were both sitting on the floor munching on what the galley had supplied under the Titan's orders.

He couldn't shake the feeling that he knew the boy but he kept telling himself that he couldn't possibly be his son. His Snotlout had died years ago in Berk's destruction and there was no possible way this child was the same boy. But his build screamed Jorgenson and his facial structure was so similar to Spitelout's own that it was uncanny, in fact if it wasn't for the boy's naturally short height then he would be the spitting image of Spitelout himself at that age so maybe his son had somehow survived…

He shook his head, even if his Snotlout had survived the attack and someone found him the chances of them calling him Snotlout were next to nothing, no one in the village except him and his wife Helga knew the boy's name when the King attacked because they hadn't yet announced it to the rest of the village. Furthermore Spitelout knew that everyone in the village had either been captured or enslaved so no one was left to find the boy, it was impossible for this Snotlout to be his son no matter how uncanny it was.

"What are you thinking about Spitelout?"

He refocused his attention on the boy to see him staring at him in confusion, Spitelout shrugged and smiled, "Nothing boyo, is your breakfast good?"

Snotlout smiled, "Yeah."

They continued eating in peaceful silence until Snotlout suddenly stopped and lowered his bowl and Spitelout looked at him in concern, "What is it boyo?"

The boy answered quietly, "When I was captured the girl called Amber said I was going to be a Titan. What did she mean?"

Spitelout sighed and put aside his own food, "She meant you were going to be given powers like her and the others."

Snotlout looked up anxiously obviously wanting to know more and the man continued, "The Twelve Titans are the King's best warriors and are called his children though none of them are actually related to him. Somehow they have been given the powers of different dragons making them some of the most powerful people in the Archipelago and they are only surpassed by the King himself."

"But how do they get the same powers as dragons?"

Spitelout sadly shrugged, "I don't know how they're given them but everyone who serves the King knows that only certain people can receive them. They have what is called the Potential and when the King conquered different people he sometimes discovered a child with the Potential, instead of being enslaved like most they would be taken and made a Titan. I don't know why only some people have it but I do know that it's passed down through the bloodline."

"How do you know that?"

Spitelout looked away slightly, "Because I have the Potential too."

The boy's eyes widened, "Then why aren't you a Titan as well?"

The man closed his eyes, "Because I was an adult when I was enslaved," he re-opened them, "the King needs Titans who are loyal to him or they'd be a threat. A child is more open-minded and it's a lot easier to gain their trust, the King knew that if he gave me a Titan's power I'd use it against him so he couldn't take the risk and he decided on a more devious plan instead."

Spitelout didn't know why he was saying as much as he was about his past but something compelled him to do so, "When I was enslaved I was assigned to work alongside a woman from my home called Grace Larson, we didn't know it then but both of us had the Potential and it was the whole reason we'd been assigned together. We'd both been separated from what was left of our families and it was just us and our labour and we grew closer, in time I heard that my wife had died and Grace comforted me as I grieved. Shortly after we heard that Grace's husband had also died and it became my turn to comfort her, I can't say for certain but I'm sure the King allowed the news of our loved ones deaths reach us and from then on it became me and Grace alone in our slavery. The more time passed the stronger our relationship grew until we finally conceived a child, it was this the King was waiting for."

Spitelout paused briefly and sniffed before continuing, "Eventually it became time for the child to be born but it proved to be too much for Grace, she gave everything to give birth to our child and she only had enough strength left to name him before she passed away. Almost the moment she did the King himself swooped in and took the child away, without looking back he said that I could remain a slave to his household as a reward for fathering his twelfth Titan and that was the closest I ever got to mine and Grace's son. I only ever saw him from a distance from then on which I think was a deliberate action by the King though he did let the boy keep the name Grace had given him, whether that was a small act of mercy or a final insult to me I don't know but Gustav became a Titan and never knew who his real parents were."

Spitelout had closed his eyes as he finished and in the silence that followed he could feel the tears in his eyes. Suddenly he felt a gentle pressure around his chest and he opened his eyes to find Snotlout hugging him, there were tears in the boy's eyes as well and he spoke in a soft voice, "I'm sorry I asked."

Spitelout gave a sad smile and returned the embrace, "There's no need to be."

* * *

Upon Dragon Island men were constructing the beginnings of the outpost as others worked to strip the huge carcass of the dead Alpha of everything of value.

Drago watched his men work impassively while Newt sat idly nearby, Heather and Anthea were down with the men overseeing their work and Rin, Lin and Akila were already on their way back to the Fortress. The king was deep in thought about a possibility he been pondering over for some time, he'd put it off to focus upon the matters of his heir and the conquering of Dragon Island but now one was done and the other was going to be dealt with by his other six children.

He was about to speak to Newt when a messenger ran up to him and hastily bowed, "Your Majesty I have an urgent message from Lady Saphia!"

Drago simply nodded and the man quickly spoke, "Not long after your message arrived she received word from the other six Titans. They have captured the boy and are bringing him to the Fortress and Lady Saphia will begin preparations as soon as they arrive as per your orders."

Drago twisted his scarred face into a smile, "Good, have them prepare my ship! I shall return to the Fortress immediately."

The messenger gave another bow, "It shall be done your Majesty."

As he hurried away again Drago spoke to Newt who'd ambled up during the conversation, "Newt, I need you to take on an important mission for me."

"What is it father?"

Drago quietly outlined her mission.

* * *

 _ **PS-So what did you think of Spitelout's tale? Please let me know and I'll try and update soon.**_


	21. Ideas and Concepts

_**Author's Note:**_

 _ **Hello everyone and welcome to another chapter. As promised this one has Hiccup in it but although they're mentioned the other kids don't appear. Thank you for your continued support and I hope you enjoy the chapter.**_

 _ **I own nothing.**_

* * *

 **Ideas and Concepts**

It had been a long couple of days for Hiccup and the other kids.

All of them were worried about Snotlout and none of them had the heart to play while he was in danger, they'd also seen very little of Valka or Cloudjumper because they were keeping a close eye on Snotlout's kidnappers in hope of formulating a plan for his rescue. Their parents had also been involved in this endeavour and were taking it in turns to keep an eye on the children while the others joined Valka. Hookfang and his father always went with them as well so they rarely saw them either.

Largely Hiccup had kept to himself during that time and he wished he could do something more to help his cousin than just sitting around the Sanctuary waiting for something good to happen. He was wracking his brains trying to think of why they'd taken Snotlout in the first place, when they'd seen them on Healers Island the men had mentioned someone called 'his Majesty' and he wondered what this person could possibly want with them.

Toothless sadly crooned and gently nuzzled him and Hiccup returned the gesture, "I know bud, I want him back safe as well. Do you think he's okay?"

The Night Fury remained quiet for a moment before nodding and giving a confident rumble.

"You're probably right. He'll be okay."

Hiccup could tell that Toothless was trying to convince himself as much as Hiccup so he'd agreed with his brother. The dragon then stood determinedly and rumbled out his intent to join the other dragons in keeping an eye on the enemy, many of the children's siblings had been doing the same but no matter how much they wanted to the children themselves couldn't join them. When he wasn't with Hiccup Toothless had been doing this and he'd actually only really come back to let his brother know what was happening which, unfortunately, wasn't very much. Though they knew which ship Snotlout was on they couldn't actually see the boy himself so they had no idea how he was, even if he was on the main deck they wouldn't know those details because they had to stay so far away from the vessel to remain unnoticed that they couldn't really see what was happening on board.

Hiccup smiled at his brother, "Go for it bud. Maybe you'll get a chance to rescue him soon?"

Toothless gave a sad nod in answer before taking off to head out and join the others and Hiccup watched him go before returning to his thoughts.

They drifted onto Alister and Hiccup sighed, Astrid was still angry with the older boy and fully blaming him for Snotlout's capture. She was fiercely protective of her friends and slightly more so of Snotlout because he was the youngest by several months and she hated the fact he was being held prisoner. Fishlegs was also upset with the rider but he was more reserved than Astrid and was acting like the sensible older brother and kept talking her down from storming into Alister's cave and giving him a piece of her mind. Ruffnut and Tuffnut were being unusually quiet and had largely withdrawn into their cave, Hiccup was certain they were planning some sort of diabolical vengeance prank on Alister or some insane rescue attempt of Snotlout and at the moment Hiccup wouldn't be above joining them if they did try to rescue his cousin.

Alister himself hadn't been seen since he'd been scolded and grounded and Hiccup didn't think he'd left his and Icebolt's cave in all that time. Icebolt himself had been occasionally seen carefully limping out on his wounded leg to stand at one of the Sanctuary's exits and stare out at the horizon for some reason, it usually wasn't long before he slowly limped back into the cave to re-join his rider but it was an odd thing for him to do. Suddenly struck by a thought Hiccup stood and began padding off towards Alister's cave.

Alister's assault on Savage may have been a failure but he might well have learned something of use about their enemy.

* * *

In the centre of the Archipelago several dragons had gathered at the base of the great monolithic rock. Before them stood the Rumblehorn that had roared into the stone and they all rumbled and growled in askance of why he'd given the Gathering call.

Before he answered the Rumblehorn glanced around at the gathered 'pack' and noticed that a couple were missing and he asked where they were. All the dragons gave some sort of response saying they didn't know and he gave a concerned growl before telling them about their missing friend.

There were a few surprised growls and some of the dragons looked at each other in concern before they all began trying to find out who'd seen their 'alpha' most recently. The Rumblehorn roared, silencing the growing cacophony, and began asking them all a series of questions. As the answers were given it soon became evident that their 'alpha' had been missing for some time and concern grew. He would've heard or sensed the Gathering call and would've have made his way to the island the moment he did, the fact he hadn't materialised was worrying and soon they began speculating.

Ideas went back and forth and the Rumblehorn mediated the discussion, helping sort out the suggestions and thoughts as they were given. They continued on for many hours and had reached the stage where they had several possible situations when a Changewing suddenly put forward a worrying idea, he spoke of the huge human force that had slowly grown in the Archipelago over the years and related how an escaped dragon told him of the defeat of the Dragon Island Queen at the hands of an Alpha level human.

All present gave forth growls at this, none of them liked the Queen and her enslavement of their own kind but they knew how powerful she was. The thought of a single human defeating her did not bode well, he'd have needed an Alpha's powers to achieve it and that was something no human was supposed to have.

The Changewing's thought was that maybe their 'alpha' had run into this human's army and been defeated himself. At first those gathered wanted to scoff at such an idea but they suppressed the urge and seriously thought about it as a possibility. It was an unpleasant thought but the more they considered it the more likely it was and the ramifications for the 'pack' could be very severe.

The Rumblehorn finally suggested that the possibility was the most likely and they needed to know for certain. Through much discussion and debate a plan was formed and soon the gathered dragons began to attend to their tasks.

* * *

As his flagship made its way back to the Fortress, Drago sat in his grand cabin pouring over an old concept of Saphia's.

It had been conceived long ago when they were still working out the Joining process to create the Titans. When that process had finally been perfected other plans were pushed aside during the years of conquest as they began destroying the Archipelago's Viking tribes and creating and training the Titans. In the following years stabilising his hold of the Archipelago had been his main concern and the issue of an heir had occupied his other thoughts.

Now though both things were well in hand and he'd found this old concept and was intrigued by its possibilities, it could greatly increase his power, deal with a very limiting factor in all his plans and grant him a great advantage over future foes all at once. The applications were quite phenomenal and the mission he'd given Newt before his departure for the Fortress was geared towards making this concept a reality.

Drago leaned back in his throne-like seat and smiled, Dragon Island was his and his heir was being brought to the Fortress to receive his place at his side, his plans were proceeding nicely. The dragon riders they'd discovered could well prove a thorn in his side but if Newt was successful as she always was then he could well soon have something to counter their one great advantage as well.

He stood and strode out of his cabin leaving on the desk the plans for something the world had not yet seen.

* * *

 _ **PS-So who wants to have a guess at what those plans are? Please let me know what you thought and I'll hopefully update soon.**_


	22. Fortress

_**Author's Note:**_

 _ **Hello everyone and apologies for the long wait for this chapter. I sort of overdid it with writing stories and gave myself too many ongoing ones to update regularly, as such I focused on a couple and once I'd finished one I returned to this one.**_

 _ **You may have also noticed a name change for Asger and Lightning. I did this because I've found out that those particular OCs were either suggested to another author or were theirs originally before I started writing this, as such I've decided to re-name them luckily that was all I really had to do since my characterisation of them was very different from the other writer's. Now they are Alister and Icebolt and I have gone through previous chapters and changed their names though I may have missed a couple here or there and in author notes.**_

 _ **So thank you for your continued support of this story and I hope you enjoy the chapter.**_

* * *

 _ **I own nothing.**_

 **Fortress**

Icebolt looked up curiously as Hiccup entered but returned his attention to Alister who was leaning against his side.

The older boy didn't even stir at Hiccup's entrance and his eyes were fixed on the cave wall and he remained silent as the younger boy walked over and sat nearby. Alister's mind was too occupied with what he'd done and the talk he'd had with Valka after she'd confiscated his sword and sent him to the cave.

She'd calmed a bit by then but was still angry with him and she'd wanted to know exactly why Alister was so determined to take on Savage and as he told her she listened. When he'd finished she'd nodded understandingly before taking her leave, sending back a warning to keep out of Astrid's way for his own safety as she did so. He hadn't seen her since then nor had he really seen anyone else except Icebolt so he didn't know why Hiccup would visit him now of all times. Icebolt let him in so he obviously wasn't planning any sort of vengeance but Alister wasn't sure what to expect.

"Why did you attack them?"

Alister looked towards Hiccup as the younger boy asked the question confused by the lack of anger in his voice, he was certain Hiccup must be furious with him as well but he'd asked the question like he was actually genuinely interested. Alister remained silent for a moment or two before finally answering, "I was only after Savage, not the others."

"Why?"

"He took my father away from me."

"I'm sorry."

They sat in silence until Alister spoke again, "I was so alone after that I didn't know what to do. I just wandered and survived, barely getting by from day to day until I found Icebolt." He wasn't sure why he was telling Hiccup this, he hadn't told Valka anything beyond Savage's betrayal, but something compelled him to keep going, "He was further north, frozen in a huge block of ice. I was curious about this so I chipped away some of the ice to get a better look, when I uncovered a patch of his skin lightning suddenly began to strike it. I just got out of the way to avoid being hit and the ice cracked and exploded freeing Icebolt but what happened next was even more incredible." He placed a hand on the Skrill's head, "I thought I was as good as dead, especially when he grabbed me in his claws and carried me off but that wasn't what he wanted. He carried me away from his ice prison and took me to another island further south and left me in a cave, it was high up a cliff so I couldn't climb down and leave it so I waited for what I was sure would be my death. When he came back though he brought food with him for me and as days went by he kept doing so and eventually he started taking me with him. I guess he was trying to thank me for helping him get out of the ice and we started travelling and hunting together. Time went on and we eventually met Shadow."

"Shadow?"

Alister gave a small smile, "Another dragon and one of the most skilled hunters I've ever met. He's actually a Night Fury like Toothless."

Hiccup stared at Alister in surprise, "A Night Fury! We've never come across any other Night Furies at all, none of the dragons here have. Even Grandfather isn't sure how many are left, if any, and he's far more knowledgeable than anyone else here."

Alister sighed, "Shadow is definitely a Night Fury though I didn't know for sure that's what he was until I met you and Toothless, he's very much a hunter and he's sort of the leader of a loose group of dragons who've also dedicated themselves to hunting. They don't spend much time together and often head off on their own but they seem to get on just fine. I thought that's what all dragons were like as I'd never really encountered any others before but I guess it's actually a choice those dragons have made themselves. Me and Icebolt learnt so much from Shadow such as hunting and surviving." His smile fell, "Though I can't forget how Savage betrayed my father, he led the King straight to us and no matter how hard we fought we stood no chance. Savage's betrayal may be the reason I met Icebolt and Shadow but I can't forgive for it, he's the reason my father's gone and he needs to pay for it."

As Icebolt gently nuzzled his young friend, Hiccup lay a hand on Alister's shoulder and they sat in silence mulling over the boy's words.

* * *

Snotlout was curled up in the cabin's bed when he was shaken awake by Spitelout.

He looked up at the slave and saw an urgent look on his face, Spitelout quickly began ushering him up and thrust some food into his hands, "We're nearly at the Fortress boyo. You should eat while you've got the chance."

Snotlout immediately began chewing on the food as Spitelout hurried around gathering up the teen's boots and outer clothing that had been left around the cabin during the voyage, he began helping the boy put everything on and Snotlout could sense his unease and began to worry, "What's going to happen?"

The man spoke quickly, "Well they're probably going to take you straight to the Nest, that's the King's palace and the home of the Titans. Then Saphia is going start the process to make you a Titan."

"Saphia?"

"She's the women that made the Titans possible in the first place and the King's most trusted and loyal subject. I doubt she'll delay making you a Titan."

"But how's she going to do that, what'll she do to me?"

Spitelout crouched down and looked the scared Snotlout in the eye, "I'm sorry boyo, I don't know." He pulled Snotlout into a hug, "You'll be okay, just stay strong."

Sounds were heard outside the door and Spitelout released the boy and stood to one side as it opened and Nova strode in. The red-headed boy smiled, "Well kid, we're here."

Two men accompanying him walked over and grabbed Snotlout's arms, he gave Spitelout one fearful look before they swept him out of the cabin and onto the ship's deck. The other Titans were there and Amber gave him a grin, "Look! We're finally back."

Snotlout was pushed down a long plank and off the ship and as his feet touched solid ground he physically staggered back as his senses were assaulted by the Fortress.

At first the smell was all he noticed, it was the smell of blood and metal and a lot of it. Sweat, smoke and the smell of burning also came with it and he wrinkled his nose and gagged at the stench. Looking around he saw countless people in chains labouring away as other humans stood over them with wooden poles and long, thin things that they could make crack or strike across people's backs. Dragons were also amongst them chained to metal contraptions that they pulled along or stood by roaring fires constantly fuelling them. Hammering of metal on metal, the breaking of stone, cracks and screams filled the air and Snotlout wanted nothing more than to shut his eyes and cover his ears. Though the most awful thing that assaulted him was the emotions he could sense.

Pain and sorrow held sway closely followed by fear. Regret was also everywhere and the malicious intent of the humans striking the workers was very strong. The dragons radiated these feelings in waves, having fallen so far into suffering that they could no longer control what emotions could be sensed by others. The emotions of the humans, which were normally quite hard to sense, were also flying everywhere and Snotlout found himself actually collapsing to his knees gripping his head as they all pressed down upon him.

The Titans and their soldiers had stopped in surprise at his reaction but Spitelout helped him up as Snotlout let out a whimper, "They hurt so much! It's horrible!"

As he began weeping at everything around him Erika strode down and dragged him into the Fortress towards the Nest not realising that she was being watched by a dragon that was definitely not one of theirs.

* * *

Maintaining his invisibility the Changewing stole away from where he'd been observing the Fortress and took to the air to head for the centre of the Archipelago. He was sure the rest of his 'pack' would want to hear about what he'd witnessed.

* * *

 _ **PS-Alister opens up to Hiccup and Snotlout has arrived at the Fortress and can anyone guess who the Changewing is off to report to? Please let me know what you thought and I'll hopefully update soon.**_


	23. Nest and Vote

_**Author's Note:**_

 _ **Hello everyone and welcome to yet another chapter. Snotlout's predicament continues but things start to pick up elsewhere and hints of other things are also seen. Thank you for your continued support and I hope you enjoy the chapter.**_

 _ **I own nothing.**_

* * *

 **Nest and Vote**

The Nest shut out the horrific scents and emotions of the rest of the Fortress outside but another feeling lingered throughout the palace. Snotlout couldn't say what it was but it made him feel a fear deeper than what his situation caused, it sat in his heart as if whatever was lingering in the shadows of the building was far darker than any of the Titans.

Erika dragged him on with the other Titans following behind and Snotlout forgot about the dark feeling of the palace as he refocused on his current troubles. Soldiers bowed as the Titans passed and Snotlout caught snatches of their conversations as they muttered to each other.

"Is that the new Titan?"

"Must be."

"He doesn't look like much."

"Just you wait. The rumour is he's going to become one of the most powerful."

"Stop gawking and get back to work dullards!"

Leif's voice cut viciously through the soldiers' speculations and they hastily bowed and returned to their tasks. Eventually Snotlout found himself before a pair of ornately decorated doors, two men pushed them open and the boy was pulled through into the immense room beyond. Erika dragged him to just in front of the raised floor leading to the three central thrones and left him there as she and the other Titans took their seats on their own thrones. A woman was already sat in the left hand throne of the three central ones and she stood, "So you're the child with the potential, I'm interested in how someone your age managed to tame a dragon."

"Tame?"

She raised an eyebrow at his answer, "How else would you be able to ride a Monstrous Nightmare unless you'd tamed it."

"Him!" Snotlout folded his arms defiantly, " _His_ name is Hookfang and he's my brother."

"Brother!?" Gustav gave a snort of laughter, "Who'd consider a dragon to be their brother? They're nothing but vicious animals that need to be kept under control."

Snotlout briefly forgot his fear as he defended his family, "No they're not! They've taken care of us all our lives, fed us, played with us, taught us so there's no way they're vicious animals. If anything that's what you all are!"

Several of the Titans looked surprised at his words and Amber gave an amused smile, "Well he's got some fire in him. I have to admit I was concerned when I saw how terrified he was when we brought him in and after his odd breakdown when he arrived at the Fortress."

The woman eyed Snotlout quizzically, "You make the dragons sound like your family, that's very unexpected." She addressed the red headed Titan as she re-took her seat, "Nova, take him to the cell next to the Joining Chamber. We'll start the preparations for the Joining first thing tomorrow. Ensure that he is given a slave to keep him in good health."

Nova nodded before rising from his seat and taking a hold of Snotlout. As before the boy found himself being pulled from the room and upwards through the interior of the Nest. After several flights of stairs he found himself being shoved into a small stone room with another bed and the door slammed shut behind him.

* * *

Once Nova had taken the boy away Erika spoke to Saphia, "Is it a good idea to make him a Titan so soon? With his attitude towards dragons and that amount of power he might end up being a dangerous enemy instead of our father's successor."

Leif snorted, "Even without his weird family connection to those beasts I wouldn't believe him to be a good successor. I don't think he's even strong enough to survive the Joining. Especially with the amount of power we're talking about"

Amber put in her opinion, "Our father is certain he will be. He said himself that he knew that the next child we found with the Potential would be able to handle that level of power. The artefact occasionally grants him insight into these things and it hasn't been wrong so far."

Gustav spoke up, "Shouldn't we also expect those other riders to show up at some point? I don't think they're just going to let us keep him without attempting some sort of rescue."

"Then we'll simply fry them and enslave the survivors." Dagur exclaimed, "They won't stand a chance if they try to assault the Fortress. We're far too strong for them to last more than a couple of seconds."

Erika countered him, "But what if we perform the Joining and we have to defend ourselves from an internal attack because of the boy's beliefs, what do we do then?"

The impending debate would've lasted for hours but Saphia stopped it in its tracks, "There is no need for concern Erika, as Amber has already said the insights given to his Majesty by the artefact have yet to be wrong and they say that this boy is the one that can handle dragon abilities of that power. Furthermore the artefact has a way of opening the minds of those who survive the Joining, once he's a Titan the boy will understand what we're trying to achieve and he'll see the lie he's told himself and that the dragons cannot be his family." She tapped her fingers on the arms of her throne, "However Gustav is right in saying we need to consider an attack from the remaining riders, they will attempt a rescue at some point and we need to be ready. In truth we don't know how many there are nor what dragons they control so we could find ourselves being attacked by a much larger force than we anticipated. We also still don't know where they are based which is information we need."

Amber offered a suggestion, "I could go on a little scouting trip, I'm not Newt but I can track very well."

Saphia shook her head, "No, not until after the Joining. The other riders may attack soon so we'll need as many of you here as possible to defend against them, making that boy a Titan is our top priority and we need time to do that."

Amber shrugged in response and Erika spoke, "It may be worth increasing our patrols around the Fortress until the Joining is finished then. Increases our chance of seeing an attack coming early."

"Indeed, get on to that immediately Erika and then order the army to go on alert. We may as well be prepared."

The girl nodded and stood up, "I'll also put extra guards by the boy's cell, no point taking any chances."

Saphia gave her an approving nod and the girl strode out of the Throne Room. As she left Saphia addressed the other Titans, "For now let's concentrate on defending the Fortress, we are currently building an outpost on Dragon Island so some of our men and slaves will be sent there to assist in its construction. Once the Joining and the outpost is complete his Majesty will most likely seek to remove the dragon riders as they are currently our biggest threat. Until then you should all attend to the Fortress' defences."

The Titans all gave affirmative responses before standing and attending to whatever tasks they had decided upon. Saphia also stood and began preparations for the days ahead where she would create possibly one of the most powerful Titans.

* * *

At the great rock in the Archipelago's centre the Rumblehorn listened as the Changewing related everything he learned on his scouting trip to the human's fortified nest.

The gathered dragons growled worryingly at his description of the place but the Snow Wraith picked up on something else and she asked him about the human hatchling he'd seen. The Changewing told her that the hatchling had an odd smell about him, one that indicated he was under the protection of an alpha and was cared for by Monstrous Nightmares. He also seemed to be able to sense things that most dragons could and everything about him indicated that he belonged to a dragon nest.

Some of the other dragons rumbled questionably at this information and the Snow Wraith looked thoughtful. Ever practical the Rumblehorn pulled them back to the more pressing issue and asked the Changewing if he'd found anything to indicate that their 'alpha' was at the human nest. The other dragon told him he hadn't but he'd found out that the humans were constructing another nest on Dragon Island, he'd also heard the humans discussing something about a 'Joining' which somehow involved the odd human hatchling. Other than that he'd found nothing except the enslavement of fellow dragons and other humans which they'd all already heard rumours about, he couldn't get into the heart of the nest so it was possible that their 'alpha' was there.

The Rumblehorn gave a discouraged rumble at this report but his disappointment quickly became determination and he put forth a suggestion to the gathered dragons. The idea was risky, reckless and nearly impossible for them to pull off but he felt that they were duty bound to do it. Furthermore he was certain it would be the very thing their 'alpha' would do if he were with them.

He suggested that they attack the human's nest.

There were growls and roars of surprise at his idea but the Snow Wraith gave a roar of her own to silence them. She then spoke to them all telling them that they had to perform this task. Firstly it could be the only way to find out what happened to their 'alpha'. Secondly she told them that they couldn't leave so many of their kind in slavery and if it wasn't stopped the human forces would grow and conquer, they had to do something even if it only delayed them for a while.

The more she spoke the more the gathered dragons listened and once she was done all of them were ready to undertake the mission. A vote was taken and it was made clear that all were behind the assault upon the human nest.

Using the information from the Changewing they made a plan.

* * *

 _ **PS-So how was that and it looks like things are building up. Please let me know what you thought and I'll try and update soon.**_


	24. Joining Fury

_**Author's Note:**_

 _ **Hello and welcome to another chapter. This one sees the reappearance of Heather, Anthea, Akila and Rin and Lin since they've not been around for a while. It also shows the beginning of the Joining and reveals what is in the cage in the Joining Chamber and there is a brief cameo of a couple of book characters. Thank you for your continued support and I hope you enjoy the chapter.**_

 _ **I own nothing.**_

* * *

 **Joining Fury**

Heather and Anthea had been left on Dragon Island to oversee the construction of the new outpost.

The work was currently progressing slowly because they'd yet to receive more slaves to do the bulk of the labour, the soldiers that had been left behind were working hard but they were warriors not craftsmen so they took a long time to complete their tasks. Heather didn't mind too much since she'd prefer to wait patiently and have the job done well rather than get it done as fast as possible, however Anthea didn't share her views and wanted the work to be done soon so she could get back to the Nest.

The older girl paced back and forth as they watched the men work then sighed in frustration, "How long do we have to stay here?"

"Until the ships with the slaves and the extra soldiers arrive. When they do Commander Thuggory will take over and we can head back to the Nest." Heather calmly answered, "Just be patient."

"But the new Titan will be at the Nest by now and they'll start the Joining as soon as they can! I want to be there when it happens."

"I do as well but father has bigger plans for this place than just turning it into an outpost."

"I know that but those are future plans, the new Titan is happening now. He's going to be father's successor so we should be there for his Hatching, apparently he's going to get the abilities of one of the most powerful dragons and I really want to know which one it is."

Heather smirked knowingly, "Well I think I know which dragon it is. I was there when it was captured."

Anthea looked at her excitedly, "Well which one is it? Tell me!"

The younger Titan casually dusted off her sleeve, "Sorry, can't do that but I can give a hint." She smiled, "It's pretty much a one-of-a-kind species."

Anthea looked at her quizzically then smiled back, "Oh I think I know which kind you're talking about. No wonder he'll become our father's successor with that kind of power."

Heather made to reply but stopped and fixed her eyes upon a nearby rock face, suddenly she snapped out her arm and whip-like barbs shot towards the cliff and wrapped around a concealed Changewing. The dragon roared in distress as it became visible and the girl swung her arms down wrenching it to the ground, Anthea ran towards the downed dragon calling excitedly, "Yes a dragon! Finally something interesting to do!"

She pulled out her daggers and was about to strike the dragon when a roar sounded and a fireball impacted before her, the Titan jumped back and looked up to see a Rumblehorn flying towards her. She smiled in glee before jumping towards her new foe and performing her fiery spin, the Rumblehorn simply charged her and she was knocked out of the air as it rammed her. She deftly landed and commented off-handly, "Well that doesn't usually happen."

The dragon came around to charge again but it was forced to dodge several sharp spines that Heather fired, another roar sounded behind her and she had to evade a Devilish Dervish to avoid being sliced by the dragon's scythe-like tail. Anthea countered with her fire breath and the dragon shot into the air to avoid it. This however was just a distraction and in the chaos the Changewing had managed to slip away along with the Rumblehorn and as the Devilish Dervish also fled Anthea looked to Heather.

"What was that about?"

* * *

Akila bounced off the ship and through the Fortress to the Nest with Kadlin and Arina following behind.

As the Titan bounded into the Throne Room she saw the others gathered before Saphia and the woman gave a smile, "Excellent, you three are here just in time. We're about to begin the first stage of the Joining."

Akila clapped her hands together gleefully, "Yippee we got here in time!"

Erika growled in annoyance at the girl's over the top reaction but the others simply ignored it, Kadlin spoke next, "I take we're all to head up to the Joining Chamber now."

Saphia nodded, "Indeed Kadlin could you and you're sister fetch the boy for me on your way up. He's in the cell beside the chamber."

The girl smiled, "Of course, it'll be interesting to see who the new Titan is."

She turned and left the Throne Room and Arina joined her as she headed up to the cell.

* * *

Snotlout sat nervously on the bed in his cell and looked up when he heard the door rattle.

It swung open and he took a fearful intake of breathe which he then released when it was only Spitelout bearing a plate of food. He smiled at man, "I didn't realise I'd see you again."

Spitelout returned the smile, "I didn't think I would either but it seems that fortune decided that I would be once again chosen to look after you."

He walked in and someone closed the cell door behind him and it rattled once more but the man carried on towards Snotlout and handed him the plate. The boy started eating and there was silence as he did do, Spitelout waited patiently for a while then when he was about to speak the door rattled again and both of them looked at it in surprise as it opened.

Two people Snotlout didn't recognise strode in and Spitelout immediately bowed to the two girls and backed off to the side, one of them scowled and marched over to him aggressively, "What are you doing here slave!?"

Spitelout kept his head lowered submissively as he answered, "I was bringing food to the boy as Lord Nova ordered me to Lady Arina."

The girl narrowed her eyes dangerously but her sister entered into the conversation, "You might as well leave him Rin. If that's what he was ordered to do then that's that, the guards wouldn't have let him in if he didn't have a legitimate reason to be here."

Arina scowled some more but stepped away from Spitelout, she gave Snotlout a single look before stalking out of the cell, "Fine! Now let's get the kid to the Joining chamber, we don't want to keep 'Lady' Saphia waiting do we Lin."

Lin put a hand on Snotlout's shoulder and escorted him out of the cell and he briefly looked back at Spitelout before he was led off down the corridor towards the only other set of doors on that floor. They weren't as ornate as the Throne Room ones but they were still skilfully carved with six symbols the boy didn't recognise, another set of guards opened them as Arina approached and Lin pushed Snotlout in after her.

* * *

In the cage within the Joining Chamber the creature kept careful tabs on the people around him.

He easily recognised the scent of the hateful woman that often came to gloat at him and he also identified the warped scents of the ones she called 'Titans'. He almost snorted scornfully at that, they had no idea what they were dealing with nor the purpose of the artefact whose power they wielded so recklessly. He wasn't certain what it truly was either but he could sense the darkness within it as well as a power unlike anything he'd ever come across. The artefact was dangerous and he was sure that using in the way they were would one day come back and bite them all in the tail.

Currently though his focus was on what was happening now, the Titans all gathering probably meant that the 'Joining' that foolish woman had been harping on about for days was about to begin. The woman had told him in great detail what was going to happen since she didn't realise he could understand her and he knew he was running out of time. The first stage simply involved taking some of his blood and mixing it with the blood of whatever poor child they'd taken to be the next Titan. They did this by placing the two blood samples into the artefact itself, apparently this gave it the template to perform the full Joining and took about two days to do so. This was when the full Joining started and it would mark his end for whatever dragon used in the Joining was fated to have all his life-force extracted and placed within the new Titan. Only death would be the outcome of such a loss.

The sound of the doors opening attracted his attention and he picked up the scents of two more Titans and then his thoughts were distracted by the scent of the third person.

It was a human child who carried the scent of a dragon hatchling and he was completely thrown by this bizarre occurrence. He was definitely a male and definitely human but his scent screamed that he was the young of a Monstrous Nightmare and was under the protection of an Alpha, an actual proper Alpha! What's more he could read the child's emotions as well as he could for an actual dragon which didn't happen with humans, the boy's fear was tangible and he found his protective instincts surging forward. The dragon tried to send calming feelings towards the child-hatchling and he saw the boy turn his head in his direction and felt the fearful confusion coming back from the Nightmare-son.

The dragon-boy was pushed in front of the hateful woman who then smiled at him, "Welcome to the Joining Chamber."

The Nightmare-son looked around his surroundings then focused his attention on the cage, the dragon sensed his pleas for reassurance and he sent back feelings of comfort to the Nightmare-son. The child-hatchling was still terrified but he kept all his focus on him and the dragon continued sending his comforting emotions to reassure the dragon-boy.

They were so focused on their exchange of emotions that neither of them were paying attention to what the woman was saying, she suddenly clasped the Nightmare-son's shoulder and the dragon let out a threatening growl at her for daring to lay a finger on the child-hatchling. As normal the woman ignored it and pushed the dragon-boy towards the cage talking as she did so, "And now you should meet the dragon whose powers you'll soon control."

The Nightmare-son was pushed right in front of the cage and the dragon pressed himself close to the bars to get closer to the child-hatchling. The woman raised an interested eyebrow at this but kept talking, "This is one of the rarest dragons of all and one of the most powerful, incredible isn't it?"

He sensed a small surge of anger from the Nightmare-son at the woman's words and the dragon heard him speak for the first time, " _He's_ a Night Fury, not an ' _it_ '."

The woman seemed taken aback by this briefly and the dragon had to admit he was impressed by the child-hatchling's courage. He was imprisoned and terrified but was still speaking out at his captors, definitely a son of a Monstrous Nightmare.

Apparently finished with the small talk after that retort the woman produced a knife and swiftly sliced it across the Nightmare-son's arm, he let out a cry of pain and the Night Fury roared angrily and slammed his body against the cage. How dare she harm a hatchling! If he was free he would've torn her apart for that, no one harms a hatchling when he's around and can do something about it!

The woman jumped back in surprise and a couple of the Titans moved forward ready to restrain him if needed, however she quickly recovered and pulled the Nightmare-son away from the cage and pressed a glass vial against his wound to collect the blood. The Night Fury roared and growled but there was little he could do and soon the woman had everything she needed, she pushed the child-hatchling towards one of the Titans and the red-headed boy caught and held him as she swiftly snapped out an order, "Take him back to the cell! I have no idea how but he's somehow riled up the Night Fury so take him away from it!"

The Titan dragged the Nightmare-son away out of the chamber and the woman turned her attention back to the Night Fury, "Now we just need some blood from you beast."

He growled at her dangerously, she could try but there was no way he was going to make it easy for her and if he got a chance to pay her back for hurting the Nightmare-son then he was going to take it.

As far as his instincts and senses told him that boy was a dragon hatchling and all dragons had a duty to protect hatchlings.

* * *

 _ **PS-So did people guess what the creature in the cage was and did you spot the book cameos? Please let me know what you thought and I'll hopefully update soon.**_


	25. Tears, Wounds and Imparted Knowledge

_**Author's Note:**_

 _ **Hello all and welcome to chapter twenty-five. This is kind of a build-up chapter but I think it's a necessary one before hitting the actual main action which is coming soon. Thank you for your continued support of this story and I hope you enjoy the chapter.**_

 _ **I own nothing.**_

* * *

 **Tears, Wounds and Imparted Knowledge**

Valka sat silently alongside Cloudjumper wracking her brains trying to think of a way to rescue her nephew.

The Sanctuary dragons had been keeping a close eye on the enemy ship waiting for a chance to rescue their kidnapped hatchling but no such opportunity had arisen. Now their enemy had reached their main stronghold and now any chance of rescuing Snotlout was virtually non-existent. It had come to the stage where the Bewilderbeast was seriously considering leading an assault on the humans himself in order to get the boy safely home. Personally he did not like resorting to violence but there were few options left, on top of that these were trained warriors and dragon trappers/slayers and they had a multitude of slaves who would be caught up in an attack of that magnitude possibly suffering even more than they already had. It also put the Sanctuary itself in serious risk, an attack on the humans would prompt a counter attack and although they didn't know where the Sanctuary was yet it would only be a matter of before they did which would put all the dragons in danger.

Despite all this though he still had a duty to those in his care and he couldn't just abandon Snotlout to whatever the humans had planned for him. The boy was a hatchling of the Sanctuary, one of his family, and his conscience would never allow him to not do something to help the boy. This was why Valka was trying so hard to think of another way, she knew what the Bewilderbeast was considering and the risks involved so she had find another plan that would get Snotlout home safely without such drastic measures.

She sighed in frustration, "What do we do? How do we save him?" She buried her face in her hands, "I just want him safely home."

Cloudjumper growled mournfully and the Bewilderbeast lowered his head and gave a low rumble. Valka looked up at the dragon king, while she couldn't understand the dragons as well as the children could she had a good grasp of what he was saying to her, "But there must be another way, attacking them will put so many of the dragons at risk as well as you. It could so easily end in more sadness."

The Bewilderbeast rumbled once more and the woman looked down sorrowfully as Cloudjumper comforted her. Largely unnoticed Hiccup crept away from where he'd been listening to their conversation and he scurried off to find the other kids.

* * *

In his cell in the Nest Snotlout nursed the wound on his arm from where it had been cut to get his blood and he whimpered slightly.

A rattling sound came from the door indicating that someone was coming in and he looked up in time to see Spitelout enter carrying several objects on a flat, rectangular thing. The man noticed the boy's tears instantly as he hurried over, "I've brought some things to treat your wound."

Snotlout was sitting on the bed and Spitelout crouched down in front of him placing what he was carrying carefully on the floor beside him, he held out a gentle hand, "Let me see your arm."

The boy held it out and Spitelout gently took it, he examined it for a moment before gathering a small piece of cloth and soaking it in a bowl of water, "This may sting a bit."

He softly began dabbing the cloth onto the cut and when he was satisfied that it was clean he got another cloth and poured some liquid from a small bottle onto it. He dabbed this cloth onto the wound as well and Snotlout whimpered again as it stung, he wanted to pull his arm away but he knew that the man was helping him so he held it in place as he worked. With the wound properly clean Spitelout began dressing it and soon it was wrapped with a clean bandage, the man gave him a small smile, "All done." He then gently clasped Snotlout's shoulder, "I'm sorry."

Snotlout sniffed, "This place is so dark."

Spitelout knew the boy wasn't referring to actual, natural darkness and he nodded sadly, "I know boyo, I know."

Snotlout sniffled again and he was obviously choking back sobs, "I just want to go home, I want Hookfang, I want Mom and Dad!"

As he broke down into weeping Spitelout did the only thing he could and pulled the boy into a hug and held him as Snotlout sobbed into his chest.

* * *

Saphia waited eagerly in the grand entrance hall of the Nest for his Majesty to arrive.

Drago's ship had docked at the Fortress and she couldn't wait to tell him that the Joining was underway, it had taken some effort to retrieve the blood of the Night Fury but they had their ways of dealing with an unruly dragon. Now the boy's blood and the Night Fury's was merging together within the artefact so it was now simply a matter of waiting for the template to be complete then the full Joining could commence.

The main doors opened dramatically and Drago strode in looking every inch the returning conqueror he was. He immediately saw his second in command and headed straight towards her, "Is my new child on his way to becoming a Titan?"

Saphia smiled as she bowed to him and answered, "The Joining process has already begun, as we speak the artefact is merging his blood with the dragon's. We simply need to wait for the template to finish then we can move onto the full Joining, it's only a matter of days until your new Titan will hatch."

Drago smiled, "Good."

They both began walking further into the Nest as Saphia continued speaking, "However there was one slight issue when we began the process."

The King eyed her, "What issue?"

Saphia inclined her head, "It may well be nothing but when we took the boy's blood the Night Fury became highly aggressive, far more so than it normally is. It made it more difficult to get a hold of its blood and the whole thing seemed to have been sparked by the boy."

Drago looked thoughtful, "Maybe it's to be expected. We are imbuing him with the powers of one of the most powerful of dragons so things may not go exactly as we think. With the power of a Night Fury he will become a Titan worthy of succeeding me and continuing with our new world order." He looked at Saphia, "What is his name?"

"According to the slave who was assigned to look after him during the voyage here the boy is called Snotlout."

"Snotlout?" Drago looked away again thoughtfully, "Interesting."

"If I may you Majesty I would like to ask you something about the boy."

"What?"

"Why are you so sure that he'll be your successor? It was chance that we found him at all and although I understand the need for you having an heir why not wait until we had a few children with the Potential and see which one would be better suited to the role. We're effectively taking the first child we've found and making him the most powerful Titan, what if he's not suitable to be your successor?"

"He will be."

"How do you know?"

Most people would never have asked these questions, Drago's subjects knew better than to question their king, but Saphia was not most people and he knew that she wasn't questioning his decisions or authority but that she was genuinely curious. This was why she was his second in command because she would always follow his will but would want to know his reasoning, to understand it so she could carry out his commands more efficiently. If he did not wish to explain then she would not question further but this time he was willing to inform her of his reasons.

"The artefact told me that the next child we found with the Potential would be worthy of being my successor."

While to most this would sound crazy Saphia nodded understandingly, ever since he used it upon the dragon alpha Drago had maintained an odd connection with the artefact and from time to time it granted him some form of insight or knowledge. She knew about it telling him of his successor already so Drago further explained the knowledge artefact had given him, "Even among those with the Potential there are those who are stronger than others. Anyone with the Potential can take the powers of an ordinary dragon but few can take the powers of an Alpha. In fact there are currently only two in the world, myself and the boy and that is why he is worthy of being my successor. He is the only other person that can take the powers of an Alpha species like the Night Fury, as the artefact told me."

"Why? What do you both have that others with the Potential do not?"

Drago remained silent for a moment before answering, "That knowledge was not revealed to me."

"I see."

They continued through the Nest in silence and it wasn't until they came to the Throne Room doors that Drago spoke again.

"Bring Snotlout to me immediately. I wish to speak with him."

* * *

 _ **PS-So Snotlout is about to meet Drago for the first time and a bit more information has been revealed. Please let me know what you thought and I'll hopefully update soon.**_


	26. Brothers, Sisters, Kings and Heirs

_**Author's Note:**_

 _ **Hello everyone and welcome to the next chapter. More pieces start to begin moving into place and the next chapter or two will mainly be putting all the players onto the stage so to speak. Other things also get hinted this time around and this whole story has a lot more intricacy than you might think. Thank you for your continued support and I hope you enjoy the chapter.**_

 _ **I own nothing.**_

* * *

 **Brothers, Sisters, Kings and Heirs.**

"Are you crazy!?"

Astrid's voice rang throughout Alister and Icebolt's cave but Hiccup didn't even bat an eyelid at her disbelieving tone.

He'd secretly called all the other kids and their dragon siblings to the cave and had told them his newly decided plan, Astrid was not particularly happy with it.

"You think we should all sneak away, head to the huge fortress where they're keeping Snotlout, sneak past an army, find him, waltz out afterwards and do all of this without telling any of our parents!?"

"Yes."

"On top of that you want to take _him_ with us!?" Astrid pointedly viciously at Alister and Hiccup simply nodded.

"Yes, I do."

She stared at him in disbelief along with Stormfly, "Why?"

"Because if we don't then Grandfather and all our parents are going to go to war. We can't let that happen!"

Fishlegs spoke up, "But if they've already decided to do that then it must be the only option."

"No it isn't." Hiccup stated, "We can do this if we get it right. They're probably expecting an all-out assault but they won't be expecting six kids and five dragons to attempt a rescue on their own."

"Because it's crazy!" Fishlegs pointed out and Meatlug rumbled in agreement.

Tuffnut put in his opinion, "I mean we like crazy and all but this seems a bit…"

"Suicidal." Ruffnut finished and Barf and Belch nodded at their words.

Alister had stayed quiet but he also spoke, "Hiccup, I want to do what I can to rescue Snotlout, it's my fault he was captured in the first place, but I don't think ye realise what yer suggesting. You guys haven't had serious war training like I have and even all my skill wasn't enough to deal with one of those Titan guys and if that kid from Breakneck Bog is right then there are twelve of them. What if all twelve are at their base?"

"We're not going on an all-out attack guys." Hiccup explained, "We're going to sneak into their base and if we do it right we should be able to avoid tangling with any of the Titans at all. I know it's crazy, I know we're just kids and I know we've never done anything like this before but I'm sure we can do it." He looked around them all in turn, "The reason I'm sure is because although these Titans have dragon abilities they're not all powerful, they have weaknesses and they can't do everything that a dragon can. We're not Titans, we're not warriors or dragon hunters and we're not even dragon riders! We're all brothers and sisters and right now our brother is in trouble and we can do something about it!" He stood determinedly, "And that's what I'm going to do so who of you are with me?"

He stared around at the group of young kids and adolescent dragons and he realised how insane this whole idea was but he refused to back down now. Behind him he heard Toothless shift and stand beside him and the Night Fury rumbled at him. Slowly Alister also stood, "If you're sure about this then I'm in."

Astrid sighed, "Okay then. Looks like we're doing this."

She also stood as Stormfly followed and Fishlegs groaned, "I was looking forward to my eleventh birthday but there's no way I'm sitting out."

He stood and Meatlug joined the upstanding group and the twins instantly followed, "There's no way we're going to let you do something this crazy without us!" Ruffnut stated.

"Yeah, it just wouldn't be right!" Tuffnut added.

Barf and Belch joined their siblings and there was a growling sound from the cave entrance. Everyone looked and saw Hookfang standing there and the Nightmare entered in silence, he stopped in front of Hiccup and looked down at him. There was a long pause before the dragon lowered his head and nuzzled Hiccup to indicate his part in the idea, Hiccup smiled, "Thanks Hookfang." He addressed them all, "Now we need to plan this well."

Icebolt stepped forward and growled something out that surprised them all.

He had an idea on how to proceed.

* * *

Snotlout was once again being led to the Throne Room and he shook with fear knowing that he was about to meet the King himself.

Saphia was the one who'd fetched him and she remained silent throughout the whole journey to the room. Soon they were before the ornate doors which were opened as soon as they arrived and Saphia pushed Snotlout in. None of the Titans were present so the only chair that was occupied was the main throne itself, as the doors clanged shut behind them Snotlout stared with fearful eyes at the King.

Tall, broad and muscular the man also exuded an aura of power. His scent was strong and overpowering laced with a dark scent Snotlout had never come across, it combined with a feeling of dominance and evil that made the boy want to turn and run as fast as he could but behind it was something else, something very different. There was the sense of something hidden within the evil man in front of him, something purer and more powerful that did not align with either good or evil but was simply power in and of itself. It pulled at Snotlout making him want to know what it was making him feel a miniscule connection with it that fluttered at the back of his mind with odd familiarity.

The King leaned forward, "Come closer Snotlout."

Saphia pushed him and Snotlout stumbled forward towards the throne until he was stood at the base of the steps up to it. As the King looked down at him Snotlout averted his eyes barely managing to stay put and not run away, the man fixed him with his unnerving gaze for a long time before he gave a lopsided grin on his heavily scarred face, "You have some courage boy. Most would've either tried to run or begun begging by now." He leaned back in his throne, "Have they told you why you're here?"

With a lot of effort Snotlout raised his head and looked into the man's face, "I supposed to become one of your Titans."

The King grinned again, "Yes but you'll be more than that." He sat up, "You are one of very few people who can take on the powers of an Alpha. That makes you the only one capable of being heir to my empire, heir to my vision of a world free of the tyranny of dragons."

"Dragons aren't tyrants!"

The King's gaze darkened, "Dragons are the one beast all men fear, the only creature that could possibly best humanity in the war for survival."

"Dragons aren't beasts at all! They're kind creatures that look out and care for each other!"

The man slammed his fist down upon the arm of his throne, "Dragons burn and kill everywhere they go! Tearing men apart and bringing chaos and destruction. I know the power of dragons and their mindlessness in battle so I will control them, control their destructive powers and place this world in order with those of us who wield true power in control!"

He stood and slowly paced down to and around Snotlout, "We are the only two in the world who can wield the power of an Alpha. We are the rightful rulers of this world and all within it, we will have a human's intelligence combined with an Alpha's overwhelming power so who else could hope to be greater than us." He placed a hand on Snotlout's shoulder and it took all of the boy's willpower to not get as far away as he could while the King continued speaking, "Once your Joining is complete and you've been through the Hatching you'll understand. You'll know what I am trying to achieve and your place in my vision, one day you're going to inherit everything I have accomplished and continue leading this world on its path of true order."

The King strode back to his throne and seated himself once more, "Once you've become a Titan your mind will be opened."

He nodded to Saphia and the women took Snotlout out of the Throne Room and back to his cell.

* * *

When they'd left Drago sat alone in his throne deep in thought.

As soon as the boy had entered he'd sensed it, both the Potential that all Titans had and the greater power deep within. He didn't know what this deeper power was but he knew it was ancient, far older than anything else left in the world and even though the artefact had told him that fact he could sense its age. His meeting with the boy had confirmed that Snotlout was indeed the one able to take the powers of the Night Fury. None of his other children had what he did and he felt a great sense of satisfaction at having finally found his heir.

He smiled.

* * *

 _ **PS-So the kids are making their move and this also marks the twin's first lines in this entire story so sorry for ignoring you guys so much. Please let me know what you thought and I'll try and update soon.**_


	27. Allies

_**Author's Note:**_

 _ **Hello everyone and welcome to another chapter. This one is all about the other kids and is more gathering of the different players. Thank you for your continued support and reviews and I hope you enjoy the chapter.**_

 _ **I own nothing.**_

* * *

 **Allies**

Sneaking out of the Sanctuary had been far easier than they'd hoped but they all knew it wouldn't be long before their absence was noticed.

Icebolt was leading them all into the heart of the Archipelago, though the Sanctuary itself was beyond it Valka had told the kids a lot about the tribes and dragons that lived within the Archipelago so they knew a good deal about it. Alister had spent most of his life there so he was also very familiar with the various islands and where things were though he'd told them that pretty much all the tribes had been conquered by the King. Despite this they weren't sure where Icebolt was taking them because the dragon only referred to their destination as 'the Gathering' and didn't explain further. This didn't satisfy Astrid at all who wanted to know exactly where they were heading and she kept trying to tell Hiccup that they couldn't trust the Skrill but he simply ignored her and continued to follow the dragon.

* * *

They'd left in the middle of the night and it was dawn before they finally began approaching their destination.

Icebolt slowed his flight and descended towards a small island covered with pines, at its centre was a single clearing with a huge standing stone right in the centre. As they flew towards it a Whispering Death suddenly appeared before them challengingly and roared at Icebolt demanding to know what they were doing here. Icebolt's reply was calm as he briefly told the other dragon who he was, the Whispering Death growled in recognition and his challenging aura faded. He looked at each of the other dragons before turning and leading them down to the clearing and they followed.

The clearing held a variety of dragons but the most prominent were the Rumblehorn and the Snow Wraith at the foot of the standing stone. The kids had only encountered these types of dragons a couple of times when they passed through the Sanctuary, the Bewilderbeast was very hospitable to dragons not under his protection (provided they didn't mean any harm) so they occasionally met dragons who preferred to roam from place to place rather than settle in a nest. They'd never met these particular dragons before but going by the conversation Icebolt had started with them the moment they landed the Skrill had met them in the past. It was then mentioned that Alister had also met these dragons and Hiccup dismounted Toothless to join the older boy who was standing back while Icebolt spoke to the other dragons, "You know these dragons?"

Alister looked round at Hiccup's question, "Yeah we've met them a few times and been on hunts with them but I haven't seen all of them gathered together like this before. They all usually keep to themselves."

Hiccup glanced around the clearing at all the other dragons taking in their scents, there was a lot of curiosity and slight confusion radiating from most of them at the five strange dragons that had appeared. They all seemed to know Icebolt and Alister but they were intrigued by the other humans and Hiccup could feel their eyes on him and his friends. The Snow Wraith had come away from the Rumblehorn and she approached Hiccup, stopping before him she briefly bowed her head and Hiccup returned the polite greeting with Alister doing the same after a slight hesitation. She rumbled at him, asking what his name was, and Hiccup smiled as he answered, "I'm Hiccup," He gestured to Toothless behind him, "And this is Toothless."

The surrounding dragons grunted in confusion at human words but the Snow Wraith seemed to understand him and she returned the smile. The others had been watching the exchange and came over to introduce themselves as well with Astrid going first, "I'm Astrid and this is my sister Stormfly."

The Snow Wraith looked intrigued by the term 'sister' but she gave a formal greeting in return and Fishlegs came next, "I'm Fishlegs, pleased to meet you."

Meatlug gave her own introduction and the two moved to one side to let the twins come forward, "I'm Tuffnut and this is my sister Ruffnut." He leaned forward and said the next bit in a stage whisper, "She's the ugly one."

Ruffnut playfully whacked her brother before gesturing to the Zippleback behind them, "This is Barf and Belch, our brothers."

The two heads gave the expected greeting and the Snow Wraith returned it before turning her focus to Hookfang who'd stayed back. She gave a bark of surprise and then stated that she knew his father from a long time ago, Hookfang was equally surprised and asked why he'd never met her before. She smiled almost wistfully as she told him that his father had been a wandering hunter like her and they'd gone on many hunts together, he'd been one of the first members of their Alpha's 'pack' but had eventually decided to stop roaming and settle in a nest when he found his mate and she hadn't seen him since then. Her smile went from wistful to fond and she remarked that he was the spitting image of his father but he looked away guiltily saying if he was like him then his brother would be safe. At that remark she quickly took in his scent and then asked if his brother was human and had been taken by the large force that had built in the Archipelago. Hookfang's head shot round to stare at her as Hiccup stepped forward, "You've seen Snotlout? Is he okay?"

She told them that one of their 'pack' had seen a human hatchling be taken into the human nest but they weren't sure if he was their friend, she then had a thought and called over a Changewing and asked him if the human scent on Hookfang belonged to the hatchling he'd seen. It only took a moment for the Changewing to pick up Snotlout's lingering scent on Hookfang and connect it with the scent from the boy from the human nest, he confirmed it and kids and dragons alike began pestering him for more info.

"Is he okay?"

"Was he hurt?"

"Do you know what they want him for?"

The Snow Wraith gave a brief roar to silence them allowing the Changewing to answer. He said that the boy looked physically fine when he saw him but the atmosphere of the human nest was almost too much or him, the last he saw the boy was taken into the most secure part of the nest and he didn't know what had happened to him since then. However he did know that the hatchling was apparently going to be part of something called a 'Joining' but he had no idea what that entailed.

The kids and dragons looked down in disappointment and concern at what the 'Joining' could be but the Snow Wraith rumbled encouragingly as the Rumblehorn joined them with Icebolt close behind. The Rumblehorn greeted Toothless and Hiccup and soon they were embroiled in a discussion, watching from the side-lines Alister leaned over to Fishlegs, "What are they talking about?"

The boy had been listening intently to the discussion and he jumped slightly before starting to translate for Alister's benefit, "These dragons are largely lone hunters and they only really meet up occasionally for joint hunts. However they consider themselves a loose 'pack' and their Alpha, if you like, is a Night Fury."

Alister nodded sort of knowing that already, "Yeah that's Shadow."

"Shadow?"

"I'll explain later but what are they discussing now?"

The boy listened for a moment then answered, "They think that their Alpha, Shadow, is somewhere in the fortress where Snotlout is. They were already planning a strike to find out and maybe rescue him if they needed to, it seems Icebolt, Hiccup and Toothless are trying to get us to work together to achieve both our goals. It would be a major help to us if we did."

The discussions drew to a close as Fishlegs was speaking and Hiccup and Toothless re-joined them. Alister looked at him expectantly and Hiccup confirmed what the others had already heard, "We've got a plan."

Tuffnut punched the air, "Awesome!"

Hiccup briefly smiled at that before explaining the plan, "These guys have already planned out an attack on the fortress so while they're doing that we'll be sneaking into what the humans are calling 'the Nest'. From there we'll find Snotlout and hopefully Shadow as well and get them both out, the chaos that all these guys will be causing in their assault should let us get in and out unnoticed."

Astrid folded her arms worriedly, "Are you sure we can trust them all?"

Hiccup nodded firmly, "Yes Astrid. They're putting a lot of trust in us as well to find out what's happened to Shadow, I'm certain we can trust them to do their bit. If it goes to plan they'll be risking more than we will be."

Satisfied Astrid nodded and the others did likewise, Hiccup smiled at them, "Okay then guys we better rest up. The attack is going to begin just before dawn tomorrow, that's when we're most likely to catch them off guard."

Nodding once more they all separated to find somewhere to rest in preparation for the next day.

* * *

 _ **PS-So the kids have allies and an attack is imminent. Please let me know what you thought and I'll hopefully update soon.**_


	28. Begin!

_**Author's Note:**_

 _ **Hello everyone and welcome to the next chapter. This is the last of the build up to the main event and we have a bit of pondering, storytelling and a small dash of action. Thank you for your continued support and I hope you enjoy the chapter.**_

 _ **I own nothing.**_

* * *

 **Begin!**

Alister lay on the ground looking up at the stars above him pensively.

He and the others had rested all day in preparation for their assault on the enemy base and it was now drawing close to their departure time. Dragons were shuffling about around him and one or two advanced parties had already left to get into position, the main force was preparing to leave and he could hear rumbles and grunts as they spoke to their pack mates. Though he didn't understand dragon language the way Hiccup and the others did he'd seen and heard this sort of thing plenty of times before when he still had his father and the rest of the resistance against the King.

He heard the old fighters joking and betting with each other as their own code for goodbye in case one, some or all of them didn't make it and the young greenhorns, as his father used to say, getting excited at this chance to prove themselves not yet realising the reality of what awaited him. He recognised all of this as he'd seen it many times before when his father's followers were about to head out on a new mission and he found it strangely comforting to be surrounded by those bearing a warrior's spirit.

There was movement and Hiccup lay down on the ground beside him and stared up at the stars along with him. They remained silent both listening to the activity around them until Hiccup finally spoke quietly, "These dragons are very different from the ones at home. I've never come across any that speak about battle the way they do."

Alister gave a small smile as he answered, "It's because they're born fighters. It's why they choose to hunt on their own strength rather than settle in a community. They enjoy the challenge, the thrill and the satisfaction from surviving by your own skills, abilities and power. They're warriors." He gave a small sigh, "I guess that's why me and Icebolt ended up befriending them, they had something similar to what my father and his followers had even if I didn't recognise it to begin with. I suppose it made me feel closer to him."

"Your dad sounds like a great warrior."

Alister chuckled slightly, "He wasn't always. I don't really remember it but he used to be entirely focused on conquering Berk and getting revenge for being outcast, at that time he was far from being honourable enough to be called a warrior." He half closed his eyes, "But then the King conquered Outcast Island forcing us to flee and things changed. At first father was as focused on vengeance on the King as had been on Berk but as the King's forces conquered more and more of the Archipelago his attitude changed from vengeance to resistance. He began embarking on dangerous missions to save people as the King's forces attacked them and perform strategic strikes to damage the foe, our numbers increased and soon we were a closely bounded group determined to one day defeat the King for ever and whether he intended it or not my father became seen as a hero and warrior leading what was more like a family than a resistance movement." He looked back up at the stars sadly, "Then Savage happened. He betrayed us and destroyed our force, my family, so he could serve the very man we'd spent years fighting against."

He fell silent and Hiccup placed a gentle hand on his shoulder as they continued watching the stars above them until Fishlegs came over to them.

"It's time to go."

* * *

Snotlout couldn't see the stars from his cell and he sat mournfully alone in the dark pondering over his conversation with the King.

The man had said that he and Snotlout were the only two who could wield the powers of an Alpha but the only Alpha Snotlout had met was Grandfather and he definitely didn't have any powers like the Bewilderbeast's. What made him so special? Why was he the only other person who could do it? Did it have something to do with that other power he'd sensed within the King?

Snotlout couldn't fathom that other power out at all. The King had been undeniably evil and all his senses told him that fact but that other power was something entirely different. It was exactly what it was, power, nothing more nothing less. It had no allegiance to good or evil or any other side or viewpoint, it was simply power and all he could tell was that it was very old. What made it even stranger was the fact that something in his mind was telling Snotlout he should know what it was but he had no idea what it could possibly be, it was both familiar and strange at the same time.

The sound of the door opening broke him out of his thoughts and he saw Spitelout walk into the cell bearing a lamp. He gave a smile and strode over to the bed where Snotlout was sitting and placed the lamp on the floor before sitting beside him. Without thinking Snotlout leaned into the man's side and Spitelout wrapped an arm around him, the boy turned his body and snuggled into a hug and after a moment's hesitation Spitelout obliged him.

* * *

Saphia stared in wonder at the artefact surprised by what had happened.

It had already finished joining the boy and Night Fury's blood and was ready to commence the full joining. Such speed was unprecedented since it normally took a couple of days for the initial Joining to complete but this one had finished in half the time and she could barely believe it.

As excitement bubbled within her she immediately strode out of the Joining Chamber and snapped out orders to the two guards outside, "You two! Find the King and inform him that we are ready to begin the full Joining."

The two men snapped to attention and swiftly bowed before charging off to perform their task. Saphia followed their route down the corridor to fetch Snotlout and bring him to the Joining Chamber not noticing or caring that beyond the windows of the Nest the signs of dawn had started to appear.

* * *

Down in the rest of the Fortress the slaves were being shuffled out of their cells and onto their day's work. The air was still as the sky slowly brightened hearalding dawn's approach, occasionally the stillness was broken by the crack of one of the overseer's whips and a cry of their victim.

Stoick kept a comforting hand on Eret's shoulder as they went with the rest of their slave group towards the quarry where they'd been assigned and Alvin followed right behind covering the boy's back in case a bored overseer felt like cracking a whip across it. Mulch walked ahead his eyes dull and glassy as they had been ever since Bucket had died many years before while the rest plodded on around them their heads lowered in the defeat and resignation they'd lost themselves in so long ago.

A movement on the ridge above them caught Eret's eye and he softly nudged Stoick, "Uncle Stoick, did you see that?"

Eret had taken to calling Stoick and Alvin 'uncle' a long time ago and both men glanced down at him, "See what?"

"Something moved on that ridge above us."

"HEY YOU!"

The harsh shout of an overseer rang out across him and they saw a hefty man heading their way. Stoick placed a protective arm around Eret and Alvin moved in front of them both as the overseer glared at the boy, "What are you talking about _slave_!?"

Eret quickly lowered his head submissively, "Nothing sir. Nothing at all."

The man's face twisted into a sadistic grin and he raised his vicious looking whip, "Slaves shouldn't speak out of turn. I'll have to remind you of that brat."

Before the man could bring the whip down the ridge exploded hurling rocks into the air. As slaves and overseers scattered Stoick and Alvin shoved Eret down and both crouched over him completely protecting him with their bodies. The ground beneath shook and rumbled and the man who'd been about to strike Eret had enough time to look down at his feet before the earth erupted beneath him flinging him into the air. A Whispering Death burst from the ground and whipped his tail around ruthlessly striking the man in mid-air and sending him flying into a nearby cliff with a crunch. A huge roar sounded from the ridge and all who looked saw a Rumblehorn standing on top roaring at the enemy below.

The fight had begun.

* * *

 _ **PS-The battle is on! The next few chapters will likely be the battle and Hiccup and the others infiltrating the Nest. I might also slot in a big segment for Ruffnut and Tuffnut seeing as I've basically ignored them for the whole story as well as Fishlegs and Astrid. Please let me know what you thought and I'll hopefully update soon.**_


	29. The Battle Rages

_**Author's Note:**_

 _ **Hello everyone and here is the next chapter. As expected this is the fight and it moves about between people a bit, it'll probably do this a lot in the next couple of chapters as I hop between different viewpoints. Thank you for your continued support and I hope you enjoy the chapter.**_

 _ **I own nothing.**_

* * *

 **The Battle Rages**

Drago was on his way up to the Joining Chamber when one of his commanders ran up and hastily bowed, "Your Majesty, a group of wild dragons has begun attacking the Fortress!"

"How many?"

"The exact number is unknown milord but we can confirm at least fifteen though there is likely more."

Drago frowned, "Is there any sign of an Alpha?"

The soldier shook his head, "No milord but judging by the number of dragons and their attack patterns they must have an Alpha of some sort. The dragons are not targeting our food stocks so it is unlikely to be a desperate attack for food."

Drago remained in thoughtful silence after the man's report for a moment then gave his orders, "Alert the Titans and have my main forces engage the dragons in battle. Nova, Erika, Amber, Leif and Dagur will join those forces while Arina, Kadlin, Gustav and Akila will remain here to defend the Nest. I shall be with Lady Saphia in the Joining Chamber, inform me immediately if the Alpha appears."

The commander bowed again, "It shall be done your Majesty."

* * *

Drago's army had proven to be very well trained and it didn't take long for them to recover after the initial surprise attack and mount a defence.

The Rumblehorn had got his pack to focus on freeing the enslaved people and dragons with accurate fire blasts blasting chains and striking overseers. Slaves ran this way and that largely trying to get out of the way of the battle, some had turned on their masters and many of Drago's men found themselves meeting their end at the enraged hands of those they'd once supressed. Soon the pack found themselves facing members of Drago's dragon army and fire, fangs and claws met in the sky over the Fortress in a spectacular show of ferocity. Though powerful Drago's dragons were highly disorganised without their master present to command them and simply tried to bring their foe down with brute strength, by using tactics and team plays the pack held their own despite their far lesser numbers and the battle remained fairly even.

Then the Titans joined the fray.

Their arrival was announced by the crackling of lightning which shot into the air and struck a Devilish Dervish. The dragon plummeted to the ground to land at the feet of Dagur who laughed in manic delight, "Bullseye first time!"

Amber coloured shots flew through the air with some striking and solidifying around pack dragons bringing more down while others near to or on the ground saw a blur shoot past them just before their bodies froze solid leaving them defenceless. Erika joined Amber in the ranged attacks with a powerful crossbow and her own fire breath adding even more hazards to the dragons that were still airborne and the pack now found themselves hard pressed.

* * *

The Rumblehorn had moved the moment he'd seen the lightning strike one of his comrades and he swooped down towards Dagur with an angry roar. He landed beside the Devilish Dervish scattering the men that had gathered around him in spectacular fashion. Dagur smirked at the dragon before launching another lightning bolt, the Rumblehorn fired a fireball which collided with the bolt causing a huge explosion that sent small bolts of lightning scattering all over the place. The shockwave from the collision caused several nearby soldiers to stumble back slightly but Dagur and the Rumblehorn stood firm. The two glared at each other and Dagur signalled the men around them to back off, they did as ordered and the two stared each other down waiting for their opponent to make the first move.

They both tensed for a split-second before shooting towards each other to begin their fight.

* * *

Further away Stoick and Alvin had joined the assault on their captors despite still bearing their chains.

The rest of their slave group had followed their lead and under the two men's leadership had organised into a small fighting cell. Eret had been shoved to the relative safety of the group's centre as all the rest wielded their chains striking out at Drago's army with vengeful power. The soldiers were caught between the attacking dragons and their former slaves and many couldn't defend against both fronts giving a huge advantage to Stoick's impromptu fighters, Mulch looked more alive than he had done in years as he swung his chains swatting any foes in his way like flies.

One of the pack dragons fell nearby having been ensnared in a chain net and Drago's men pounced on the downed Changewing, seeing an opportunity for a surprise attack Stoick led his group towards the dragon and they fell upon the men while they were occupied with the dragon.

They swiftly defeated the enemy and as Stoick stood before the ensnared dragon the Changewing seemed to smile before firing some of its acid, the former chief stepped back in surprise and found that the dragon had deliberately aimed for his chains and the acid had burned through them effectively releasing him. He stared at the dragon in shock and it smiled at him once more, his shock turned to determination and he began pulling the net off the Changewing. Alvin began helping him and soon the dragon was free once more, a couple of acid shots later all of Stoicks group were free of their chains and some began openly weeping.

His task done the Changewing launched into the air once more and Stoick and Alvin began arming themselves with weapons from the fallen soldiers. Others in their group followed suit and soon they were fully armed and ready to fight for their freedom.

They charged towards another group of soldiers to continue the battle.

* * *

The attack had attracted most of Drago's forces away from the Nest and as the chaos grew six dragons flew down to the relatively unguarded Nest and entered through a little used entrance the pack Changewing had located during one of his scouting trips.

They had been worried that the dragons wouldn't be able to join them inside the enemy base but Drago had wanted it constructed with large corridors and rooms allowing it to be able to take his fighting dragons if required so they could easily fit inside with them. Hiccup led the way trying to remain unnoticed for as long as possible, they weren't foolish enough to believe the place would be empty so they exercised extreme caution as they made their way through the corridors.

Hiccup suddenly stopped and everyone else did likewise and stood in silence. They'd all picked up the scents of an approaching group of men and they swiftly moved into a handy side corridor out of sight. As the group got closer they heard the clanking of armour and Toothless silently signalled to Hookfang and Stormfly, the three dragons stole slowly forwards and stood waiting right at the corner of their side corridor as the clanking grew louder and louder.

Then they pounced!

There was a brief flurry of growls, clanking and cries of surprise before it fell silent and Toothless growled out the all clear. Moving forward to join them the others were met with the unconscious forms of six armoured men spread throughout the main corridor. Toothless grinned at his brother and Barf and Belch rather evilly kicked a couple of the bodies, Astrid crouched down beside one of the fallen men and relieved him of his axe and Hiccup gave her a questioning look. She motioned to the other weapons, "We might need some of these to defend ourselves instead of always relying on our brothers and sisters."

Though not completely comfortable with the idea Hiccup saw her point and quietly spoke to the others, "Okay guys, grab a weapon or two each then let's keep moving."

Moving quickly the kids selected a weapon each, Fishlegs picked up a war hammer and showed it to Meatlug who growled approvingly, Ruffnut found a spear and Tuffnut choose a set of knuckle dusters and they both grinned at each other. Hiccup selected a rapier and fitted its belt and scabbard around his waist, it was a good fit and he patted it happily before speaking again, "Let's get going."

They swiftly moved on down the corridor again and onwards through the enemy stronghold avoiding groups of enemies when they could and getting the dragons to stealthily knock them out when they couldn't. Though they didn't have any idea of the interior of the base or where Snotlout was Hookfang's instincts and the scents around them helped, the kids sense of smell wasn't good enough to pick out Snotlout's amongst all the others but Hookfang knew his brother's scent very well and could find with a bit of effort. Also his own close bond with Snotlout gave him an inkling of where his brother was, it wasn't a definite sense of his location and was more like a 'warmer, colder' sort of thing, it told him he was getting closer but not where Snotlout was exactly making him mostly rely on scent.

They ended up climbing a set of stairs and going up more and more floors as they did so, they were particularly high up when they smelt the approach of another group of men. Swiftly diving through a set of ornate doors they ended up in the Throne Room and for a moment they gaped at the sheer size of the place. Hiccup gazed at the large central throne, "I guess this is the King's throne room." His eyes roamed the other throne, "Twelve other thrones divided into six either side of the central ones, they must belong to the Twelve Titans that boy mentioned when he attacked you Alister."

Alister nodded, "They each have a different dragon on them, except two which seem to have half a Zippleback each. Do you think that represents their dragon power?"

Hiccup had wandered up to one of the thrones, "Most likely, one of them is a Whispering Death which would match the abilities of the one you fought at their campsite and the other is a Monstrous Nightmare which are the abilities the boy who first mentioned them said he had."

Fishlegs had been studying the three central thrones and he ran his hand along the carving on Drago's, "This one is carved with a Bewilderbeast like Grandfather. That could mean the King has abilities just like his."

"You're right about that!"

They all jumped at the strange voice and spun to see a girl with a spear standing right in front of the doors. There was movement from behind the central thrones and Fishlegs scurried away as two more girls who looked completely identical stepped out from behind them. The dragons growled at them and Hiccup wondered how he and none of the others had noticed their presence at all. Astrid held up her axe ready for a fight and Alister and the twins did likewise as the dragons tensed ready for a fight.

One of the twin girls spoke calmly, "If you surrender now we'll let you live. I'm sure our father will want to speak with you all anyway but we can't guarantee you'll all survive if you try and resist."

Hiccup answered by awkwardly drawing his rapier and holding it ready and the girl sighed, "Fine then, we'll do it this way."

The three girls dived towards them.

* * *

 _ **PS-So Stoick and Alvin have begun fighting back and Hiccup and the others have met three of the Titans, I think Astrid, Fishlegs and the twins will take up much of the next chapter but they kind of need a bit of the spotlight in this story. Please let me know what you thought and I'll try and update soon.**_


	30. Joined Battle

_**Author's Note:**_

 _ **Hello everyone and welcome to the next part of the battle. Largely the kids again but we see Snotlout once more later on. Thank you for your continued support and I hope you enjoy the chapter.**_

 _ **I own nothing.**_

* * *

 **Joined Battle**

It became clear very quickly that despite having greater numbers and dragons on their side the kids were outclassed.

Their major disadvantage was the fact that they didn't actually know how to effectively use the weapons they had. The only one who'd had serious combat training was Alister but even with his latent natural talent he was far below the standard of one of the twin girls. Arina could draw rings around him and dual-wielding her sword and axe made her a formidable foe and when backed by Kadlin with her bow then she was almost invincible. Astrid was doing fairly well for a complete novice with an axe but it wasn't close to matching Akila's skill with a spear and it took both her and Stormfly to fend the Titan's attacks off.

The dragons were better off but massive room or not they were very limited by the space, Meatlug was the only one who could properly fly within its confines and the Gronckle had grabbed her brother, taken off and begun assisting the others from the air. Occasionally she needed to perform emergency manoeuvres when Akila would launch her spines or fire breath when the girl had a moment to do so. Icebolt was doing what he could but after firing off a few shots his lightning ran out and since he wasn't outside he couldn't recharge it so he resorted to physical attacks. The other dragons used their flames when they could but with their human siblings right in the middle of the fray doing so was very dangerous and there had been several near misses already.

The Titans were doing far better, they could all engage two or three foes at once and the twins were like tag team masters. They knew where their sibling was at all times and could easily assist the moment they needed to, Akila wasn't as attuned as they were but she could also work well with her allies and between the three of them they were winning the battle.

As Hiccup awkwardly blocked a sword thrust from Arina his mind took stock of their situation. The Titans were obviously winning and it was largely due to the enclosed space and their own lack of combat skills, if their dragon siblings could get into the air they would have a far better chance. Flight was their main advantage as their opponents were stuck on the ground but the room was too small for that so they needed to somehow make it outside.

Though he knew what needed to be done he had no idea how to do it and things were looking very bleak.

* * *

Amidst the battle raging beyond the Nest Stoick and Alvin's group had swelled in numbers as more slaves joined them and their attacks on the King's forces had given the pack dragons some much needed assistance. Though it was the last thing he thought he'd ever do, Stoick found himself defending and rescuing the downed pack dragons. He didn't even think about what he was doing and just treated them as any other ally. Other slaves began following his lead and the pack dragons returned the favour by freeing more slaves and Drago's forces were becoming hard pressed.

Stoick had just finished dispatching some men who'd somehow cornered Eret when he felt an ominous rumble beneath him. On instinct he grabbed Eret and dived away from where they were just as the ground ruptured open and the Whispering Death from before flew out of the earth and landed upon the ground in a huge cloud of dust. Nova climbed out of the large hole and took a stance holding his gauntleted hands up ready to fight. This allowed the Whispering Death to recover and face him and the dragon snarled then launched a barrage of spines right at the Titan, Nova fired spines of his own and they collided with the dragon's spine barrage nullifying the attack. However for the dragon they'd simply been a useful distraction and he flew forwards Nova and slammed into the Titan with incredible force, most men would've been at least seriously injured by such an impact but Nova's abilities included a robust body and though winded he was largely unharmed. He recovered to discover that the Whispering Death had flown high into the air towards the Nest and he gave a small smile, bringing up one of his fist he slammed into the dragon's nearby eye and the dragon roared in pain and sped up his flight releasing his flames as he did so. Powered by pain and rage the fire was far hotter than it normally would be and it struck the rapidly approaching wall of the nest turning it red from the heat, Nova scrambled round behind the dragon's head and dug the claws from both his gauntlets into the base of the Whispering Death's neck and used them to steer the dragon towards the glowing wall.

Half-blinded and filled with pain the Whispering Death heedlessly crashed into the Nest, the sheer force of the collision demolishing the heat weakened wall.

* * *

No-one expected a Whispering Death to explode through the wall and everyone dived out of the way as his body smashed through the thrones and skidded along the floor leaving devastation in its wake.

Nova nimbly leapt off the dragon's back and gave an apologetic smile to the other Titan's, "Sorry guys. I didn't mean to interfere with your fight."

If he was going to say something else he didn't get the chance to as a black tail whacked into him launching him into a nearby wall. Though he was robust it was quite the impact not long after another one and the boy was knocked out cold, Toothless roared ferociously at him and all the kids and the other dragons could sense his rage.

It had only taken moments for them to smell the Whispering Death's blood and the complete absence of any emotion from the fallen dragon expressed the cold reality that he was dead. The kids, with the exception of Alister, stood horrified at this fact, yes they had seen dragons die before but they'd never seen one actually being killed. The dragons on the other hand didn't waste time being horrified and advanced upon the remaining three Titans in anger. Hiccup was the first to recover out of the kids and he felt an unusual rage burn within him, he was about to step forwards to join the dragons when he felt Astrid place a hand on his shoulder.

"Not now Hiccup." He gaped at her in surprise and she gestured to the Throne Room doors, "You need to find Snotlout, that's what's most important. The way out is clear at the moment so take Toothless and Hookfang and get searching for him, we'll distract these three and buy you some time."

"They're too powerful Astrid. They were beating us despite our numbers so how are you guys going to manage without us?"

The girl indicated the massive hole in the wall, "By using that to get in the air and claim our biggest advantage." She pushed him, "Now stop worrying about us and get going. Snotlout needs you!"

Not liking it one bit Hiccup called to Toothless and Hookfang, the dragons initially refused but Stormfly hastened them on their way and the two dragons and the boy sprinted out of the throne room as Astrid and the others renewed their fight with the Titans.

* * *

Right at the top of the Nest Snotlout had been brought into the Joining Chamber by Saphia. The King was already present and Saphia bowed before shoving Snotlout towards him.

The boy stumbled forward and was grabbed by the King and held tightly as the woman began final preparations. He could sense the agitation of the Night Fury in the cage and his fear rose and rose as Saphia continued her work. There was a clunking sound and the odd egg-shaped metal container opened revealing its hollow interior, the King pulled Snotlout over to it and shoved him inside and the boy barely had time to turn around before it slammed shut leaving him in darkness. Terrified he began pounding on the metal yelling to be let out but no-one paid any heed to his cries even though the Night Fury was also roaring in anger.

* * *

Outside the metal container Saphia had just finished her last preparations and she reverently handed the artefact to Drago. The King smiled broadly and approached the central pedestal and placed it within its designated slot before standing back.

Within moments the artefact began to glow and its power flowed down the pedestal, through the obsidian rods and towards the cage. Energy began wrapping around the Night Fury inside and the dragon's cries went from anger to pain, the energy then flowed to the container holding Snotlout and the boy's cries changed to yells of shock as it flowed into him. Drago's smile grew at the sound of the new Titan being created and Saphia clapped her hands joyfully.

The Joining had begun.

* * *

 _ **PS-So time is rapidly moving for everyone and the fight rages on. Please let me know what you thought and I'll hopefully update soon.**_


	31. Reveal

_**Author's Note:**_

 _ **Hello everyone and welcome to the next chapter. Its yet more of the battle and we actually see a lot of Spitelout this time around. Just to let you guys know, most of the next chapters detail events happening at the same time or within very quick succession of each other. I'm trying to write a variety of points of view of the same fight so many of the events run parallel such as the kid's fight and Stoick's fight. Just a heads up because you can lose sense of timing within the story because of gaps between chapter updates. Thank you for your continued support and I hope you enjoy the chapter.**_

 _ **I own nothing.**_

* * *

 **Reveal**

With Hiccup, Toothless and Hookfang renewing the search for Snotlout, Astrid turned all her attention onto dealing with the three Titans.

Their combat skills were useless in the fight so she and the others wasted no time in getting on one of their dragon siblings and flying out of the massive hole in the wall. The Titans also dived out of the wall and began swiftly scaling the Nest walls using the many ornate decorations across its surface as holds and perches. Akila and Kadlin had a variety of ranged attacks to continue the fight but Arina was purely a close combat fighter so she focused on being in the right place when she and her sister wanted to use their fire ability. Having flight put the dragons in a much better position than before but the Titans did have training to deal with flying dragons and were not completely stuck for a counter attack.

Akila had a long coil of rope for situations like this and she swiftly uncoiled it and created a lasso, her tool ready she expertly threw it and it hooked around Stormfly's leg. With a strong tug the Titan pulled Stormfly out of the air and the dragon crashed down onto a broad ledge protruding from the Nest wall. The Nadder recovered and was about to bite through the rope holding her ankle when Akila nipped in with her spear held ready, Stormfly leapt into the air to avoid the blow and found that the rope on her leg had its other end skilfully tied around a stone ornament restricting her movement to the length of the rope. Astrid jumped off her sister's back ignoring Stormfly's cries not to and swung her axe down at Akila. The girl casually avoided it and smiled, "Nice try."

Barf and Belch had ended up in a similar predicament due to the joint efforts of Kadlin and Arina and now Ruffnut and Tuffnut were faced with a Titan twin each. Fishlegs and Meatlug were about to help but got blocked by the sudden revival of Nova and the Whispering Death Titan was not letting them anywhere near their friends. Alister and Icebolt had their hands full with three of Drago's military dragons and they had less chance of assisting any of the others.

The one fight had just become four.

* * *

Down amongst the battle was Spitelout though he was largely fighting on his own near the Nest entrance.

He'd left Snotlout just before dawn and was working just outside the Nest when the battle began. That had him immediately being ordered to shore up defences along with other slaves but as the fight went on and slaves began turning on their masters the soldiers began attacking any slave on sight, several times he'd had to fight them off and while the slaves joined the battle Spitelout turned round and headed towards the Nest instead.

He was planning to get Snotlout out of the Nest while he had the chance, the Titans and the King would be too busy with the attack and the slave revolt to worry about the boy so they could slip away amongst the confusion. After taking care of him all this time Spitelout knew he couldn't leave the boy behind, he may have convinced himself that the boy wasn't his Snotlout but he still wanted him safe. He didn't get very far towards his goal when he was intercepted by several men forcing him into a fight.

Unlike many of the Fortress slaves the ones that worked inside the Nest like Spitelout did not wear chains granting him more freedom in a fight than many of the others, he'd also acquired a war hammer from a fallen soldier and he swung it around with deadly skill. He hadn't wielded an actual weapon in a very long time but he hadn't allowed his skills to rust during his enslavement and his years of practicing in secret with whatever could work as a training weapon were paying off. Men fell before him and their efforts grew less and less enthusiastic as he continued to triumph, some had even backed off and run from him with only the bravest and most foolish remaining. It wasn't long before all his foes had either fled or fallen and Spitelout was about to resume his approach to the Nest when he suddenly dived to one side to avoid a stream of fire that came from the Nest entrance.

Gustav was blocking his way in.

The young Titan stood right in front of the entrance and Spitelout's grip on his weapon loosened as he was faced with his son, "Gustav, don't do this."

"Don't give me orders slave!" Gustav's voice was filled with indignant anger, "If you're thinking about taking away Snotlout then there's no way I'm going to let you. The Joining has already started and I will not let anyone inside the Nest to stop it just as father has ordered me!"

"But I can't fight you Gustav!"

"Then surrender since you seem to realise that you can't beat a Titan." The boy pointed at him threateningly, "The only reason I'm wasting time talking to a slave like you is because you're obviously a powerful warrior who can match most of our men in battle. If you surrender now I might be able to have you instated as a member of the army rather than a slave but we Titans are far more powerful than you'll ever be."

"That's not why I can't fight you." Spitelout explained, "I can't surrender and serve the King but I can't fight you either. It's not your power I don't want to face, it's you yourself that I can't fight."

"What do you mean by that?"

Spitelout lowered his weapon and took a small step towards the Titan, "Hasn't anyone ever told you who your birth parents were?"

"A couple of long dead slaves who had the potential." Gustav answered dismissively, "But what's that got to do with this?"

"There's more to it than that. Your mother died giving birth to you but the King obviously lied to you about some of the other details."

"I still don't see what it has to do with right now." Gustav's voice largely sounded confident but Spitelout heard the slight tremor indicating the boy had almost already figured it out but didn't want to believe it. The man looked him directly in the eye and said what he'd longed to say but had never been given the chance to.

"I can't fight you Gustav because I'm your father." He looked at his son sadly, "And no real father would ever attack his own son."

Everything seemed to still and the roars and clashes of the battle faded out as father and son held each other's gaze, time stilled and the moment seemed to stretch on for an eternity.

Then Gustav shook his head, "You're lying!" He glared at his father, "And even if you're not it doesn't matter." Small flames appeared on his clenched fists as his Fire Coat began to flare up, "The King, my father, gave me this power then taught me how to use it. It may look like we Titans are just more powerful underlings of his but we all know that he actually cares about us and my brothers and sisters care about me." His Fire Coat burned hotter and he snarled out the last few words, "They're my family and nothing you say will change that!"

He released his fire breath and Spitelout froze in place as he watched the flames of Gustav, his son, raging towards him to end his life.

Then there was a beating of wings and he found himself flying into the air away from the fire that was about to consume him.

He looked up to see the underside of a Stormcutter which was holding him in its claws. The dragon flew towards a spire of rock that stood above the raging battle and carefully placed Spitelout on its top, it soared around the spire once before landing upon it before the man and revealed that it bore a masked rider. The rider dismounted and took a few steps towards Spitelout but stopped when he readied his war hammer he'd somehow kept a hold of. The person sighed sadly before speaking in an oddly familiar voice, "Of course, you wouldn't be expecting me at all."

The rider slowly removed the mask, "I guess you thought I was dead, just like I thought you were."

Spitelout's weapon clattered upon the stone as it fell from his grasp at the sight of a face he'd never dared to hope he'd ever see again.

"Valka?"

* * *

 _ **PS-Valka joins the fray and Gustav knows who his birth father is. Please let me know what you thought and I'll hopefully update soon.**_


	32. Two Fights, Two Outcomes

_**Author's Note:**_

 _ **Hello everyone and welcome to chapter thirty-two. We see more of Valka and Spitelout as the battle unfolds. Thank you for your continued support of this story and I hope you enjoy the chapter.**_

 _ **I own nothing.**_

* * *

 **Two Fights, Two Outcomes**

Valka gave her brother a small smile as he stared at her dumbstruck.

She didn't blame him, she'd felt exactly the same way when she'd first seen him as she'd flown over the battlefield, in fact her own shock had nearly caused her to not save him in time from the boy's flames and she'd recovered just in time to do so. As he continued to grasp the fact that his little sister was still alive she took in how he'd changed since she'd last seen him.

He was much leaner than he'd been though he still had the hefty build he'd inherited from all his forefathers. His clothing was ragged and torn and there were scars showing across his visible skin, though his hair had always been slightly messy it was now longer and more unkempt and she could see the odd grey hair amongst the black. His beard had also grown longer and was equally messy along with its own odd bits of grey.

Spitelout took a step towards her and held out his hand as if he wanted to touch her but was scared in case it revealed she wasn't actually there, "Is it really you?"

Valka came over to him and gently clasped his outstretched hand in her own and smiled tearfully, "Yes Spitelout, it's me."

In one motion he pulled her into a tight hug, "I thought we'd lost you a long time ago, how are you here?"

She returned her brother's embrace, "It's a long story which I'm afraid I don't have time to tell now." She stepped back and spoke seriously, "I need to find Snotlout, all the other children and their dragon siblings. Have you seen any of them?"

"Snotlout!?" Spitelout took a step back, "You mean the Snotlout that was captured several days ago?"

"Yes, have you seen him, do you know where he is?"

"Yes but I didn't know he was yours."

She looked at him in disbelief, "Mine? What do you mean mine? Haven't you realised who he is yet?" She grabbed her brother's hand once more, "He's your son."

Spitelout collapsed to his knees as he received his second emotional shock and he fixed his eyes on the ground, "I told myself he couldn't possibly be."

Valka gently held him, "Who else would he be. There's no one in the world who would call their child Snotlout apart from you."

"How did you know his name? No one else in the village did."

She smiled fondly at him, "Our grandfather was the greatest warrior in the village, right up to the day he died. He was your greatest hero and you were devastated when his long years finally claimed him, you wouldn't give your son any other name but his."

She helped him to his feet, "Now let's go and get him."

* * *

Dagur and the Rumblehorn were locked in their duel.

The Titan had armed himself with a sword and was combining swings and thrusts with his lightning attacks. The dragon had his own fire, naturally tough skin, which warded off many of Dagur's attacks with ease, and a wealth of combat experience on his side. The battle was fairly even as the two combatants continued to face off and neither was giving the other an inch.

Dagur swung his sword down only to find it deflected by the Rumblehorn's naturally armoured head, the dragon countered with a head-butt and the Titan jumped back to avoid it. Dagur swung it in from the side and the Rumblehorn saw it coming and prepared to block but failed to notice his opponents grin. Just before the sword struck home Dagur poured his lightning into the blade and the moment it hit skin all the lightning ran through the dragon's body.

The Rumblehorn roared as it all thundered through him and Dagur laughed manically at the sound. His laughter quickly turned to a screech of pain when the dragon grabbed his sword arm in his mouth and his teeth dug into it. The dragon snapped his head upwards and flung the Titan into the air. He launched himself towards his foe and once again grabbed one of Dagur's flailing limbs and flung him once more but this time he threw him straight down. The Titan hurtled to earth slamming into the ground with a terrible thud and a cloud of dust, men charged in from the side-lines to assist him but the Rumblehorn launched a fireball into their midst sending the whole group flying.

He gave one loud roar of victory before flying off to re-join the rest of the battle leaving his opponent's broken body behind.

* * *

In an entirely different part of the battlefield the Snow Wraith had engaged Amber in combat.

The girl had tried to use her Death Song skills to hypnotise the dragon but the Snow Wraith was well aware of the Death Song's abilities and had learnt to shield herself from the alluring song. It hadn't taken Amber long to realise this and she'd been forced to rely on physical combat. This was an area she wasn't as adapt in, preferring sneak and surprise attacks, but she wasn't a novice and her skills of evasion were very well developed so she could still hold her own. The Snow Wraith also preferred stealth attacks but without her normal frosty environment her colouring made it impossible, however she was well versed in more direct forms of attack and using her high-speed flight gave her quite the advantage.

Several times Amber had attempted to trap the dragon in her amber goo but the Snow Wraith either avoided it or used her own icy breath to solidify it instead, occasionally the dragon would use her powerful tail to send the projectile back towards her foe and Amber would narrowly avoid the rebounded missile. With a lack of ranged weaponry the Titan was having a hard time dealing with her opponent and the Snow Wraith knew it, she saw an opportunity to deal with the Titan and she released a barrage of ice blasts. Amber dodged them all skilfully but the dragon was merely shepherding her as she set up her trap. A last carefully aimed blast forced the Titan to dodge to the side right onto the icy ground from her previous assault, the girl lost her grip on the ground and slid violently along it and the Snow wraith shot down and landed right in the girl's path ready to finish it. She reared up to bring her claws down upon her enemy…then froze.

Leif casually stepped around her now paralysed body and stared down at his fellow Titan, "You should be embarrassed Amber. You were nearly taken out by one dragon."

She stood up moodily and stalked over to the Snow Wraith, "Well I'm not going to let it get away with this."

She took her sword and stabbed it right into the Snow Wraith's neck slaying her instantly and stalked off leaving the dragon's paralysed body standing like some horrific statue.

* * *

Right out beyond the war torn island the Bewilderbeast himself was rapidly approaching.

The dragon king had no fondness for war or battle but with one of his nest hatchlings captured and several others having already gone to rescue him he'd been left with little choice. He'd opted for attacking the enemy on his own as most of his nest were novices in the art of war and his power far exceeded theirs.

Despite his preference for peace the Bewilderbeast was no stranger to war, he'd lived for a very long time and had been through a great deal in his path to becoming a True Alpha. He'd battled other dragons before as dragons, like humans, could choose darker paths for their lives and not all lived peacefully with others. Other Alpha's also actively conquered dragons and humans alike and he'd fought some of them before over the course of his long life. He'd also seen wars between humans and even stood in the paths of some who'd fallen into the ways of evil. This gave him a great deal of experience as a warrior and military leader but he also had a deeper understanding of the workings of the world and his senses had picked up the building of something darker.

He didn't know what it was but it was growing while remaining as hidden as possible. It skulked at the edges of the struggle between light and dark only noticeable to the few with the wisdom and power to dimly sense it. It no doubt had some hand in events that were happening but the connection was intangible leaving merely a sense of its work and nothing solid to work with. He was greatly troubled by this secret force but he'd been forced to focus on what was happening now and had decided to mount an assault upon the base of his enemy. He pushed his thoughts of this other force to the back of his mind and turned his attention to the upcoming battle.

Valka and Cloudjumper had gone ahead along with the hatchling's parents to locate the children and their siblings and get them and as many slaves as possible away from the island, he was well aware of the destruction he could wreak when he used his power and the fewer innocents caught up in it the better. His presence wasn't to be a part of the rescue but to try and prevent a repeat of the events that had led to this day by tearing apart the fortress and the army that his foe commanded. He could sense the power of an Alpha and with the knowledge they had it wasn't that hard to come to the conclusion that it was a human that had somehow gained an Alpha's power. How he did not know but someone with that much power who followed the path of evil must be stopped before it was too late and it was his duty to do it.

As he got closer he prepared himself for what he was about to do in order to maintain peace.

* * *

 _ **PS-The Bewilderbeast is coming and we re-join Astrid and the others next chapter. Please let me know what you thought and I'll hopefully update soon.**_


	33. Lucky Escapes

_**Author's Note:**_

 _ **Hello everyone and welcome to the next chapter. As promised we're with Astrid and the others this whole chapter so she and the twins get some much needed time in the spotlight. Thank you for your continued support of this story and I hope you enjoy the chapter.**_

 _ **I own nothing.**_

* * *

 **Lucky Escapes**

It was all Ruffnut could do to keep avoiding Kadlin's arrows and Tuffnut wasn't doing any better in dealing with Arina. The Titan twins were relentless in their attack continually keeping them on the defensive while also preventing Barf and Belch from joining the battle. The Zippleback was doing everything he could to help his siblings but until he could get rid of the rope keeping him on the ground his options were limited.

Narrowly avoiding yet another arrow from Kadlin's bow, Ruffnut found herself back to back with her brother, they were both panting heavily and Kadlin spoke, "This is your last chance to surrender, I suggest you take it." The twins simply glowered defiantly and the girl sighed, "Very well then."

She lowered her bow and green gas began pouring out of her mouth, within moments it had surrounded the twins and they saw Arina grinning through the fog, "This should be good."

Knowing what was coming Tuffnut grabbed his sister's hand and that was enough to tell her their plan. They tensed themselves and everything seemed to slow as they prepared for the exact moment, in slow motion they watched as Arina raised her hand and snapped her fingers.

Then the gas ignited and time rocketed to normal speed once more as the explosion rocked the Nest and Arina grinned cruelly at the seeming destruction of her foes. As the smoke cleared there was a crater but no sign of the twins and Kadlin stood beside her as they stared at it, "Did we obliterate them entirely?"

Arina shrugged at her sister's question, "Must have done."

A familiar smell trickled into their nostrils and they both suddenly looked down to see green gas pooling around their feet. Whirling round they saw Barf and Belch behind them with the twins sitting behind a head each, Ruffnut cheerily waved, "We move quicker than you think."

As one the Titan's began leaping back but Belch lit Barf's gas right at that moment and they were both flung back by the force of the blast landing in an unconscious heap at the edge of the ledge they'd been fighting on.

* * *

On another ledge Astrid had her hands full with Akila.

The Titan was skilled with her spear and it took everything Astrid had to keep defending herself, Stormfly did her best to help but Akila seemed to easily fend off both girl and dragon with little effort and the Nadder hadn't had a chance to get rid of the rope which stopped her flying. The Titan kept up her attack leaving Astrid no chance of attacking herself and she found herself being driven back, Stormfly risked a fire blast but Akila simply dodged it before renewing her assault and the same happened when the dragon tried her spine shot.

Suddenly Akila changed tactics and she struck Astrid sharply in the ribs with her spear butt and the girl fell back winded. The Titan held her spear at her throat, "You've lost so give up." The sound of the explosion from the Titan twins rang throughout the area and Akila sighed, "Guess your two friends didn't take that option, don't make their mistake."

The second explosion rocked the nest catching the Titan off-guard, "What!"

Astrid grabbed the moment and knocked the spear blade aside, jumped to her feet and flung her axe at Akila. The Titan dodged the throw and stared at her, "You've just thrown away your only defence!"

Astrid smiled, "No I didn't."

There was a roar and Stormfly swung her tail smacking Akila to the side, a small length of rope dangled from the dragon's leg its end shorn by Astrid's thrown axe. The girl jumped onto her sister's back, "Lucky thing my aim was good enough."

Stormfly agreed and flung several accurate spines towards Akila pinning the girl to the ground. Nova flew by and landed heavily beside the Titan now unconscious for the second time that day and Fishlegs and Meatlug hovered beside Astrid, "That was too close for my liking."

Meatlug growled in agreement as the twins appeared alongside them on Barf and Belch, "You should've seen us!" Tuffnut exclaimed excitedly.

"Yeah, "Ruffnut continued, "We totally thrashed them!"

"We got lucky." Astrid countered, "We need to catch up to Hiccup and the others before they recover. We won't last another round against these guys." She looked around, "Where's Alister and Icebolt?"

The others also frantically stared around until Fishlegs pointed further up in the air, "They're up there!"

* * *

Above the other kids Icebolt and Alister were having difficulties with three of Drago's militarised dragons.

Normally Icebolt could handle something like this with ease but he'd already used up his stored lightning and couldn't recharge it while Alister was on his back leaving him with only claws and fangs for defence. The Skrill was holding his own but the enemy dragons had full firepower making things incredibly difficult for the two of them.

Dodging another fireball Icebolt roared angrily at the offending dragon but was cut short as another swooped in to try and gouge him with its claws, dodging that as well the Skrill snapped at its tail but just missed. Alister was clinging to Icebolt like a limpet but he knew without his lightning powers his friend would soon be overcome by the enemy dragons, Icebolt was thinking along similar lines but he wouldn't dare try calling down lightning while the boy was on his back. Something below caught the Skrill's attention and he saw the others flying up to join them and a crazy plan sprung to mind. He roared instructions to Meatlug and the Gronckle responded confirming his orders.

Then, without warning, Icebolt tossed Alister off his back and into empty air.

Alister barely had time to register what had happened before his plummet was halted by him landing directly in Fishlegs' arms. The boy helped him steady himself on Meatlug's back and they all watched as Icebolt finished his counter-attack.

With no rider the Skrill had nothing to worry about and with a mighty roar he called down lightning towards his body. It crackled violently as it struck and for a moment Icebolt was wreathed in the thunderous glory of lightning before he released it. A wave of energy surged all around him and the enemy dragons couldn't avoid it, they were blasted back by its force and fled in defeat.

The enemy routed, Icebolt swooped down alongside Meatlug and rumbled apologetically at Alister. The boy gave a smile, "Its okay Icebolt. You needed to charge yourself up somehow." He frowned slightly, "Just give me a heads up next time okay."

Icebolt agreed and flew closer allowing Alister to jump onto his back. They turned their flight towards the hole in the wall of the Nest eager to get back onto Snotlout's trail. They landed back in the throne room and swiftly jumped off their siblings and hurried to the doors with Astrid leading the way, "We need to catch up to Hiccup and the others."

A barrage of spines halted their progress and they found all four Titans blocking their way, Astrid stared in disbelief, "No way! You can't have recovered already!"

"We can and we have." Nova answered, "And this time you will not get lucky."

The kids and dragons braced themselves ready to fight once more but a roar they all recognised rang from outside. Moments later Cloudjumper erupted through the hole to the outside closely followed by the kids' parents. Fire rained down upon the Titans and they scattered to avoid the blasts as the dragons sought to neutralise the threat to their children. Though powerful the Titans could not handle a surprise attack of such magnitude and Kadlin took command, "Everyone! Retreat now!"

Responding to her orders her fellow Titans dived out of the doors and away from the dragons and the kids cheered as they retreated.

Valka leapt off Cloudjumper's back and ran over to the children, "Thank goodness you're all okay!"

Dragon parents flocked to their young nuzzling and growling in relief as they checked and rechecked that they were unharmed. Spitelout had also been riding Cloudjumper and he called from the Stormcutter's back, "Valka! We haven't got much time!"

She nodded at him and scanned the group before her, "Where's Hiccup, Toothless and Hookfang."

"They went on ahead to find Snotlout while we kept those other guys busy." Astrid swiftly answered.

"What!" Spitelout exclaimed, "They've already started Snotlout's Joining, the King himself is up there with him. There's no way they'll survive if we don't move soon!"

Valka paled and sprinted back to Cloudjumper, leaping onto his back once more she snapped out orders, "All of you need to go with your parents right now! The Bewilderbeast is coming so you need to be well away from here as soon as possible. We'll get Hiccup, Snotlout and the others."

The dragon parents wasted no time in ushering their children towards the hole to the outside and Snotlout's Nightmare father growled something to his mate, she growled back and nuzzled him briefly before joining the rest of the dragon parents. He then followed Cloudjumper into the air and upwards to the top floor of the Nest determined to rescue both his sons.

* * *

 _ **PS-The kids are safe but what's happening to Hiccup and Snotlout? Please let me know what you thought and I'll hopefully update soon.**_


	34. Battle Ends

_**Author's Note:**_

 _ **Hello everyone and here is the final chapter of the battle. It's a very long one this time and it shows what's happening in the Joining Chamber. Thank you for your continued support of this story and I hope you enjoy the chapter.**_

 _ **I own nothing.**_

* * *

 **Battle Ends**

The Night Fury could feel his life being drained away with every second that passed.

The energy from the artefact was forcefully ripping it from his body and it was agony to lose his life force this way. He couldn't stop roaring in agony and he writhed on the cage floor just wanting the pain to stop.

* * *

Inside the other container Snotlout wasn't writhing in pain but he was curled on the floor whimpering as the energy flowed into him.

It wasn't the agony of having his life force torn from him but it felt like tiny pricks right across his skin and his insides churned uncomfortably as the energy started changing them. He also felt something else entering, something dark and terrifying and when he screwed his eyes shut visions flashed across them, darkness, evil, a glimpse of a terrible man, a beast and a malevolent presence reaching for him. His whimpers became sobs as the energy continued to flow and he begged someone to help him.

Then a small flicker of light cut through the dark visions and the energy around him lessened, as the pain decreased he opened his eyes.

Something shining stood with him inside the container, a four legged creature whose shape was hard to see due to the light it produced. Snotlout wasn't sure how but he was certain it was somehow holding the energy back, the creature glanced his way and he felt like it told him help was coming.

* * *

Outside Saphia was running around the container frantically, "I don't understand what's happened! The energy flow has never simply been blocked like this before and if we don't get it moving again the whole apparatus is going to blow!"

Drago growled deep within his throat, he refused to be thwarted by something like this! "Sort it woman! NOW!"

"I'm trying your Majesty!"

A sudden feeling surged through him and he realised what he had to do. He strode over towards the artefact snapping at Saphia as he did so, "MOVE AWAY!"

She did as she was ordered and he placed his hand upon the artefact and willed it to break through the block. The energy crackled through his hand and he felt it pushing harder against its block as his will powered it, he then felt something push back and he willed harder gaining a little ground. The opposing force rallied and matched him so he began focusing everything upon his task, every bit of his will that he used to dominate the minds of dragons, his desire for his world order and his iron bound determination to make that order reality.

He felt the energy surge with power as it absorbed all this and the opposing force began to falter and weaken. It was still holding out with everything it had but it was being pushed back and Drago smiled knowing he was about to be victorious.

Then the entrance doors were blasted inwards and a Night Fury's plasma blast struck him in the chest sending him stumbling back.

He quickly recovered and faced the one who'd dared to strike him revealing the third Night Fury he'd ever seen.

* * *

Toothless and Hookfang roared angrily at the man before them.

They and Hiccup were certain that this was the King himself and Hiccup stood straight-backed between the two dragons speaking with far more confidence than he felt, "Let Snotlout go!"

The man sneered at him, "So this is the one who rides a Night Fury. My men spoke of you but I didn't imagine that someone like you tamed an Alpha dragon."

"I've not tamed anything." Hiccup responded, "Let Snotlout go or we'll make you let him go."

The King smirked, "Unlikely."

He released a blast of ice and Toothless grabbed his brother and dived one way and Hookfang dived another, the Nightmare let loose a stream of flame but all it took was another ice blast from the King to block it. Toothless deposited Hiccup safely out the way and sprinted towards the man firing his plasma blasts, to the Night Fury's horror the man simply batted them aside with his bare hands with no sign of injury. Hookfang tried to pounce on him from behind but the King grabbed him and threw the Nightmare casually to one side, Toothless took a swipe with his claws but he was also hurled away and landed on top of the dazed Nightmare.

The King stood over the dragons and smiled as he addressed Hiccup, "I hold the powers of the Bewilderbeast. Attacks like this will never defeat me."

He inhaled ready to finish the brutally short fight with a final ice blast and Hiccup stood frozen at what was about to happen but the ceiling shook violently and the King halted his attack to glance upwards, "What?"

With a mighty explosion the roof blew inwards raining debris upon those below.

Drago dove and covered the artefact from the debris while Toothless shot over and pounced upon Hiccup to protect him. The enraged form of Snotlout's father burst through the billowing smoke with Cloudjumper closely behind bearing Hiccup's mother and another man. The older Nightmare landed upon the floor, the impact sending tremors through the room, and pounced towards the King.

* * *

Spitelout leapt off the dragon's back wielding his war hammer and ran to the aid of the Nightmare.

Behind him Valka ran to her son but Spitelout kept all his focus on Drago. Neither he nor the Nightmare could actually match the King's power and even together they stood no chance of defeating him but that wasn't the plan. All they had to do was keep him occupied long enough to free Snotlout from the Joining apparatus and try not to die as they did so.

As expected Drago grabbed the attacking Nightmare and tossed him with ease but Spitelout was close behind and he swung his hammer towards the man before he noticed he was there. The weapon struck home but it simply bounced off the man's skin and he barely dodged the arm that swung in his direction, by this time the Nightmare had recovered and he pounced once more slamming his head into Drago's body. This drove the King back a few paces but he wrapped his arms around the dragon's snout and was about to break the Nightmare's neck when Spitelout swung the hammer again distracting him enough for the dragon to get free. A blast cannoned into Drago's back and the man stumbled forward, Spitelout saw Valka's dragon bound around the fight and fire another blast which the King deflected. A stream of flame engulfed the King next and looking to the other side Spitelout saw a younger Nightmare breathing it, the older Nightmare swung his tail and struck Drago's legs though it didn't topple the man at all. The fires dies down and Spitelout charged back into the fray and swung his hammer at Drago's head, the King caught it in his hand and shoved it away but was hit with a plasma blast from the Night Fury before he could follow up with a counter-attack.

This is how the battle continued with the four dragons and Spitelout giving Drago no time to counter their attacks. Near the apparatus Valka was engaged in combat with Saphia desperate to reach her nephew and get him out but both women were evenly matched. The energy within the apparatus itself continued to build and now the floor was slightly trembling as it started to overload with the amount of energy it was trying to hold.

Then Spitelout found himself charging towards Drago for another quick assault only to find the man ready for him this time.

In one swift motion the King smashed the hammer out of Spitelout's hands, grabbed him by the throat and held him up above his head. Spitelout found himself gasping as Drago's hand cruelly tightened and cut of his air and the dragons stopped their attack for fear of harming their ally. Drago's face was an enraged snarl, "You'll all die here and now! Your tactics are spent."

Despite the King's words Spitelout still had one gambit left. He grabbed a small knife he'd picked up earlier, pulled it out of its hiding place and slashed it right across Drago's eye.

Like any dragon Drago's eyes were surrounded by weaker skin and the King cried out in pain as the sharp blade cut through it. He dropped Spitelout and the man took in huge breaths of air as the King staggered away, Drago gave what could only be described as a vengeful roar and prepared to use his ice breath to obliterate all his foes in one shot. As if in response Snotlout screamed in pain as the energy from the artefact finally crashed through the force blocking it and hit him all at once. The scream wrenched Valka's attention away from her fight as she cried out, "SNOTLOUT!"

Saphia took the chance and kicked Valka away from her and the Joining apparatus, Snotlout's Nightmare father covered Hookfang with his body in an attempt to protect him from Drago's attack and Toothless ran to the defence of Valka. However they all failed to notice the actions of the one other person present and able to fight.

Hiccup.

Hearing his younger cousin's scream the boy moved without thinking. He sprinted towards the Joining apparatus and snatched up Spitelout's fallen war hammer as he went, wielding the weapon with a strength he shouldn't even have he leapt towards the artefact within its plinth and brought the hammer crashing down. Drago saw the boy's charge and he dived towards Hiccup to stop him but he only had time for one last yell before the hammer fell, "NO!"

With a mighty crash the hammer slammed directly upon the artefact smashing it into fragments.

At once there was a mighty surge of power that exploded throughout the entire room throwing everyone backwards, it rocked through the cage and metal container blasting them open freeing the occupants and both the Night Fury and Snotlout collapsed as the Joining was completely halted. The rest of the Nest shook with the force and the ground around it cracked dangerously as the tremors ran down the Nest and into the island itself.

* * *

In the rest of the island everyone felt the tremors from the Nest and there was a lull in the battle.

Alvin looked to Stoick, "What do you think that was?"

Stoick shook his head, "I don't know."

There were more tremors, far larger than the initial ones and Alvin called out as he staggered to keep his balance, "What's going on 'ere?"

Also struggling to remain upright, Stoick's gaze fell on the coast which they were now very close to and his jaw dropped in horrified disbelief and he pointed, "That!"

Looking where he was pointing everyone witnessed it as an immense, white dragon with enormous tusks strode onto the land. With every step the earth shook and everyone fighting stopped everything as this immense leviathan emerged from the sea and gave a mighty, ear-splitting roar.

The Bewilderbeast had arrived.

Eret stood beside Stoick his eyes wide and the boy unknowingly gripped the man's hand in fear, "Uncle Stoick, what do we do?"

The former chief shook his head, "We retreat." He yelled to the gathered force of slaves, "RETREAT! GET OFF THE ISLAND!"

Snapped out of their shock they all began running for the docks, slaves and soldiers alike ran as fast as they could to escape the beast behind them. The Bewilderbeast took another step and onto the main land of the island, the ground beneath shook as before but it then cracked ominously. From that first crack more sliced through the earth and the whole island rumbled and shook as the cracks spread outwards across it, old tunnels groaned and rock fell from their ceilings as one thing led to another and all the weakness in the stone began to crumble at once.

* * *

The Bewilderbeast stood shocked at what had happened, he'd meant to deal with the enemy army but he didn't realise that the island itself would break beneath him. In a fight he could control who was targeted or caught in his attacks but this was something that would harm everyone on the island.

He may have sealed everyone's fate.

* * *

Stoick and Alvin charged along with the panicked mass of people fleeing the island as the stone cracked and shattered around them. Stoick saw a soldier scream as he was crushed by a falling boulder and he dodged around it. Up above the dragons had also abandoned their fights and were flying as fast as they could away from the island, some were carrying their paralysed or injured brethren and their wings flapped furiously as they fled. On the ground people were pushed and shoved as they all tried to reach the docks and the ships, some were pulling along or carrying their comrades and many tried to help others in their escape but some fell and were trampled beneath the feet of the others.

The docks were in sight and Stoick could see that several of the ships had already been taken by Drago's army and slaves were piling into the ones that were left. Stoick pounded towards the nearest one seeing former slaves already trying to get it ready to sail and he jumped aboard in full leader mode snapping out orders. The people latched onto his air of command and did everything he said without question, children were shepherded aboard in droves by adults and they tried to cram as many people aboard as they could.

The island shook and rumbled and Stoick could see its cliffs cracking and collapsing as yawning chasms were ripped open. People fell into them as the ground opened beneath them and others were buried beneath landslides. The ship began moving and Stoick sighed in relief, they were all going to make it.

Someone tugged frantically on his arm and he spun to see Alvin's worried face, "Where's Eret!?"

Stoick looked about in a panic trying to find the boy, when had he let go of Eret's hand? How had they got separated?

"UNCLE STOICK!"

The terrified wail came from the now rapidly retreating shore and Stoick's blood ran cold when he saw Eret sprinting towards the ship. The ground was collapsing behind him and the former chief yelled desperately, "ERET!" The collapse was gaining fast and the ship was now too far away, Eret had no chance and Stoick could only watch helplessly as the earth claimed its victim.

Then out of the blue the Rumblehorn swooped down and snatched the boy up seconds before he fell into the earth.

The dragon flew away from the island straight towards the ship, swooping low he dropped Eret right into Stoick's arms and the man gripped him tight with tears pouring down his face as the boy wept into his chest.

By the time he finally looked up once more the Rumblehorn had vanished.

* * *

The Joining Chamber was shaking violently helping everyone quickly recover from the energy shockwave.

Valka was first up and she staggered all over the place as everything lurched about. Spitelout was next up and he staggered towards Snotlout's prone form, falling to his knees beside him he shook the boy, "Snotlout, wake up!"

Snotlout groaned, "Spite…lout?"

The man grinned in relief, "Yes, it's me."

A few large bits of debris fell nearby reminding them of how little time they had and Spitelout picked his son up and held him firmly in his arms, "We need to get everyone out of here!"

Valka had managed to get Hiccup to his feet and Toothless was helping the other Night Fury stand, Hookfang and his father had stumbled over to Spitelout and both were growling at the boy in his arms in concern. Spitelout quickly put Snotlout across Hookfang's back and Cloudjumper had picked up the other, greatly weakened Night Fury in his claws and was already airborne with Valka on his back. Hiccup and Toothless were just about to launch into the air and Spitelout made to climb on behind as Snotlout's eyes flickered open, "What's happening?"

Spitelout ruffled his hair, "We're all getting out of here."

The boy weakly smiled then his eyes widened, "BEHIND YOU!"

Spitelout spun just in time to dodge Drago's spear-like, ice encased arm and Hookfang jumped back and into the air, his father snarled and slammed into the King. The man simply laughed and stabbed forward with his arm spear getting the Nightmare right in the leg, the dragon fell down with a roar of pain and Snotlout cried out from Hookfang's back, "DAD!"

Drago raised his arm to stab the Nightmare through the skull but Spitelout was already moving and he charged forward in a flying tackle towards the King. It wasn't enough to bring the man down but it distracted him from his final blow, Drago viciously threw Spitelout off him but the man quickly recovered and stood between the King and the Nightmare. Drago snarled as he stabbed forwards, "STAY OUT OF MY WAY!"

Spitelout dodged the thrust and shot his fist out aiming for the eye he'd slashed at earlier. It struck home and Drago staggered back and Spitelout followed up with the other hand that held his knife but just missed the other eye. The King surged forward and shot his own fist out in a punch that sent Spitelout reeling back several paces but Drago kept coming forward and he thrust his other arm at his foe before he could recover.

Spitelout gasped in shock and pain, the Nightmare roared and Snotlout screamed as the ice covered arm pierced his chest.

He looked up at Drago and the King smiled at him triumphantly, "Now you die."

Somehow Spitelout smiled back, "Probably, but before I go here's something I owe you for taking both my sons."

In one motion he brought his hand up and thrust his dagger right into Drago's injured eye

The King screamed and clutched his eye and Spitelout collapsed as the arm spearing his chest was pulled out. He breathed raggedly and felt the ground crumble beneath him, then it was the feeling of being lifted into the air as Snotlout's dragon father picked him up and carried him away from the Nest leaving the island to collapse in on itself.

The Fortress was no more.

* * *

 _ **PS-So a very long chapter and what do you think about the ending? Please let me know what you thought and I'll hopefully update soon.**_


	35. Farewell

_**Author's Note:**_

 _ **Hello everyone and I'm sorry but this is a short and sad chapter. Thank you for your continued support and I hope you like the chapter.**_

 _ **I own nothing.**_

* * *

 **Farewell**

Valka was numb as she stared at her brother's form which limply hung in the Nightmare's claws.

They flew as far and as fast as they could away from the Fortress and soon they began descending towards the island that sat right at the centre of the Archipelago. The Nightmare deposited Spitelout as gently as he could in front of the tall standing stone and the instant Hookfang had landed Snotlout was off his brother's back and at the man's side. Valka rushed to join him and gasped as she properly saw the wound Drago had inflicted, kneeling by her brother tears filled her eyes as she saw how awful it was. There was no way to save him even if she had access to all the herbs and dressings she wanted, the wound was too deep and had damaged too much, in fact it was a miracle that her brother was still breathing and hadn't already died.

A hand tugged at hers and she looked into Snotlout's desperate, tear filled eyes, "Auntie, can't you save him?"

Her heart broke at the desperate hope in his voice, the begging plea, knowing that her answer was going to devastate him. How could she tell him? Despite not knowing who the man was it was obvious Snotlout had formed a strong bond with his father. How could she tell him that Spitelout was not going to make it, that the man dying in front of him was his birth father?

Spitelout groaned and his eyes flickered open, he turned them towards his son, "Sorry boyo…that's beyond anyone now."

Snotlout shook his head fiercely, "No its not! It can't be!"

The man smiled, "Looks…like you're really…stubborn…I should've expected that." His smile fell and he managed to grab Snotlout's hand, "There's something…I need to…tell you, something that I should've…realised a lot sooner." He cupped Snotlout's face in his hand as he smiled once more, "Valka…didn't know I was still…alive until today but I'm…I'm your father...your birth father."

Snotlout froze in shock, his tear stained face filled with sorrow and disbelief. Valka gently placed her hand on the boy's shoulder and confirmed the truth with a single gentle squeeze.

Snotlout's thoughts tumbled and collapsed, his emotions thrown into chaos as rivers of tears poured forth once more and he tried to hold back sobs. Spitelout's hand tenderly wiped the tears away, "I'm…sorry we didn't get…more time, that we've spent all these…years apart. I wish that I was there to…to see you grow…and care for you but…but it was fated otherwise." His hand slowly dropped, "I always wondered…what you'd have…grown to become, now…I think I know." Spitelout's breathing became weaker and his eyes were slowly closing as his strength diminished but he still gave a smile far greater than he'd given in the last ten years. "You've become an incredible person…and I'm sure you'll only…become more so." With what little he had left he lifted his hand once more and slowly ruffled Snotlout's hair, showing his affection for his son one last time, "I know…you'll always…make me proud son."

His eyes closed as his hand dropped and Snotlout caught it and clasped it in his own, "I'm glad that we managed to meet, that we spent a little time together even though so much of it was taken from us. I know that you can hear me and that you'll know my last words to you."

He brought Spitelout's hand to his heart and spoke just before his father gave his final breath.

"I love you Papa."

* * *

Night had fallen over the island and the stars stood as silent witness to the tearful scene below.

As Spitelout had said his last words the dragons of the pack and the other children along with their dragon parents had landed away from the gathering around the man in his final moments. As Snotlout wept over his lost father Valka, Hookfang, Hiccup, Toothless and both of Snotlout's adoptive parents gathered with him giving the boy the comfort and support he needed.

Eventually Valka decided it was time to put her brother to his final rest and Hookfang's parents lifted Spitelout's body and slowly carried him to the beach. The pack dragons parted to let them through and with no prompting fell into procession behind them. Those carrying the recovered bodies of the pack dragons that had fallen came first with the Rumblehorn bearing the body of the Snow Wraith, next came the older Night Fury, still greatly weakened by the failed Joining he slowly walked behind supported by Cloudjumper. Behind them was Valka and the kids and their dragon siblings, Hiccup had his arm around Snotlout's shoulders as Hookfang stayed close to his brother's side and the other kept as close as they could as well. Lastly came all the other dragons and the procession wound its way down to the beach in respectful silence.

Waiting for them there was the Bewilderbeast himself, how he knew what was happening no one could say but he lowered his mighty head as the dead were borne past him towards a great ship pulled up onto the shore. It must have been the Bewilderbeast that had brought it from the Fortress, its sails were gone, it had no form of rigging and had no rudder but it would serve its purpose.

Spitelout was carried up onto its deck and gently placed in its centre, the fallen dragons were placed around him though such a funeral was not the norm for dragons. For whatever reason the pack had chosen this send off for their comrades and no one was going to question it then. Without a word Snotlout picked up a long wooden spar, possibly fallen off the ship, and held it out towards his Nightmare father. The dragon inclined his head in understanding and lit it with a gentle flame then the boy boarded the ship and placed the burning wood on the deck and bowed his head towards those who'd been lost. Once he'd disembarked the Bewilderbeast moved close and used his breath to blow the vessel out to sea.

The ship glided away across the waves and the older Night Fury took a couple of shaky steps forward. He bowed to the vessel and several of the pack dragons took to the air and with their fire set the ship alight before swooping back to re-join those on the beach. As the flames leapt into the sky the Night Fury lifted his head and gave forth a mighty roar, Snotlout stood firm tears pouring down as he watched the burning ship carry away the father he'd had far too little time with as all the dragons followed suite and the air resounded to the sound of their roars.

A warrior's farewell to those that had given everything.

* * *

 _ **PS-And so Spitelout has gone. Please let me know what you thought and I'll hopefully update soon.**_


	36. Partings and Meetings

_**Author's Note:**_

 _ **Hello everyone and sorry for the slightly longer gap between updates this time. This chapter marks the end of this fic but FEAR NOT it is not the end of the story, a sequel will appear in the future and hopefully not too far in the future. At the moment I think the entire story will span three fics including this one and I shall warn you now that the third one will definitely be a crossover but what it crosses over with exactly will not be revealed for some time. You can try and guess if you wish as I have left hints scattered throughout this fic but I won't be confirming anything till the right point in the story.**_

 _ **Thank you all for your follows, favourites and reviews for this story and a special thank you to everyone who suggested OCs for the Twelve Titans who will all be returning in the sequel. I hope you all enjoy the final chapter for this part of the story.**_

 _ **I own nothing.**_

* * *

 **Partings and Meetings**

Several days had passed and Dragon Island was bustling with frantic activity as a single, badly damaged ship limped towards it.

Heather and Anthea stood side by side watching its approach with a degree of concern and were first to come forward when it finally drew alongside the temporary dock that had been built. There was a collective gasp from all present as they laid eyes upon Drago.

Spitelout's knife had done incredible damage, the eye was now covered by a crude patch of dressings but a long scar showed above and below it stretching from his hairline right down to his chin. The rest of his body was covered in ugly bruises and swellings and though he walked with his usual confidence those observant enough could tell that the steps hurt.

The other Titans followed behind him not looking much better, all were bruised and battered, Arina and Kadlin sported burns, Nova's arm was in a hastily made sling, Erika bore a large gash on her arm which showed through her torn sleeve and Amber had a bandage wrapped around her head. Leif and Gustav were the least injured with them both only having a couple of bumps and bruises apiece but with them was a stretcher bearing Dagur who was in a very different state.

He was swathed in bandages and dressings with myriad bruises showing between the gaps, his breathing was shallow and his eyes were tightly shut clearly showing that he wasn't anywhere near to waking up. Heather let out another gasp and ran to his side, he'd been her brother before they'd become Titans and she hated seeing him in this state. Saphia (who was wrapped in several bandages herself) was also by the boy's side continuing to tend to him as Drago began roaring out orders for an infirmary to be prepared for the Titan's. People promptly obeyed his commands and soon Dagur was being whisked away for further treatment with Heather staying by his side. Saphia was following when Drago pulled her aside, "Will he recover?"

His voice was low so only she heard the concern within it and she answered as best she could, "It will take a great deal of time and more than a little fighting on Dagur's part but he eventually will."

The King nodded, "Good."

That seemed to be all he was concerned with but Saphia reported something else, "Now that the artefact has been destroyed by that boy we've no way of creating any more Titans, I'm afraid that it's now impossible for you to have the successor you wanted."

"That doesn't concern me right now." Drago stated bluntly, "Focus on Dagur, do everything you can to help him recover. For now we need worry about surviving and rebuilding, other issues can be addressed later."

She bowed, "Of course your Majesty."

She hurried off to attend to Dagur as Drago strode off to see the state of his remaining forces.

* * *

On the shores of the Archipelago's central island under the light of the morning sun, everyone was preparing to head their seperate ways.

The previous night had been quiet and solemn as many remembered those who'd been lost. Snotlout had buried himself between his dragon parents and grieved out of sight of everyone else, Valka had also disappeared for a time of solitude until Hiccup joined her and they spent much of the night together. Toothless had also disappeared along with the older Night Fury who Alister confirmed was Shadow, no one knew what they spoke about and neither one would tell anyone about their conversation but the two Night Furies talked together for a long time and Toothless was very thoughtful when they eventually returned. Alister was also thoughtful and spent a lot of time away from the rest with Icebolt for company, he said very little but it was clear he was deeply pondering something. The others spent most of the night with their parents who were relieved that their young were safe and there were cuddles of relief and half-hearted scoldings for recklessness all round. Eventually most slipped into slumber with a few staying awake for whatever thoughts or reasons they had and when the sun had started to rise so did those on the island.

This led to where they were now, standing on the same beach where they'd sent their fallen on saying yet more goodbyes.

The Bewilderbeast was speaking with Shadow but it was clear he was ready to return to his Sanctuary. Most of the other dragons were also ready to go, the pack dragons were all eager to return to their more solitary way of life. They had found and rescued their 'alpha' and with the King's massive army and fortress largely destroyed there was little need to remain together, they would be happy to see their comrades again in the future but they were lone hunters by nature and did not take to spending long periods in the company of others. The Sanctuary dragons were obviously returning home with their young and Snotlout especially was eager to get back as soon as he could.

Alister had been standing quietly to one side and he jerked in surprise when Astrid came up to him, "Hey Alister?"

"Um…yeah?"

She smiled, "Thank you for everything you did. You really helped us out."

He shuffled awkwardly, "Its fine, really. It was kind of my fault it all happened in the first place." He looked down, "I'm sorry for my attitude to you guys when we first met. You really showed me just how alike to dragons we are so thank you."

Her smile grew wider, "No problem, when we get back everyone there will be so happy to see you and Icebolt again."

Alister briefly closed his eyes and sighed, "About that." He looked up a slightly sad look in his eyes, "Me and Icebolt won't be going with you to the Sanctuary."

The other kids gasped in surprise and Hiccup stepped towards him, "Why not?"

The older boy placed a hand on Icebolt's head as he answered, "The dragons at the Sanctuary were really kind and welcoming to us and it's a wonderful place to be but we just can't stay there." He looked up into the sky slightly trying hard to explain his reasons, "I can't explain it but we just can't settle in one place yet, maybe we just like to wander but I think it's something else." He looked at them directly, "It feels like I'm looking for something, what I don't know but it's out there and I need to find it." He smiled, "So I'll keep searching and Icebolt has chosen to come with me so I know we'll find it one day."

Hiccup nodded in understanding, "I think I understand Alister. We'll always be glad to see you if you ever come to visit again."

He held out his hand which Alister took, "Thank you Hiccup. I'll visit again someday."

Astrid came forward next and also shook his hand, "I'm sure you'll find whatever it is you're looking for."

He nodded thankfully and Fishlegs shook his hand next, "Good luck and see you soon."

Alister smiled at his hopeful tone, "See you soon Fishlegs."

The boy gave and audible sniff moved aside to let the twins come forward next. They both folded their arms before playfully punching Alister's arms at the same time, "Don't die out there."

"Yeah and if what you find is really cool bring it back and show us."

The older boy gave a small laugh, "It's a promise."

Lastly Snotlout came towards him along with Valka. The woman gave Alister a brief hug, "Stay safe."

He nodded and turned to Snotlout, "Snotlout, I'm sorry. It's my fault you went through everything you did."

"No it's not."

Alister looked at him in surprise, "But if I hadn't…"

"It doesn't matter Alister." Snotlout stated, "There's no point taking or placing blame for it now. Several people could say it was their fault but it doesn't make a difference to what happened so just forget whose fault it was." He gave a slight smile, "It's done with now so just worry about the future instead."

Alister looked at him in shock for a moment then returned the smile, "Thank you, I will."

His smile broader Snotlout held out his fist and Alister gently bumped his against it, "See you later Snotlout."

"See you later Alister. Till the next time."

"Till the next time."

The two boys stepped away from each other and Alister gave them all one last smile before turning and mounting Icebolt. Shadow and the Bewilderbeast had finished talking and the Night Fury came alongside the Skrill and rumbled out something to him, Icebolt growled gently at Alister and the boy grinned, "I don't quite understand everything you guys say yet but I'm guessing Shadow was asking us to join him for a while." Icebolt nodded in confirmation and Alister answered, "Let's go for it." He spoke to the Night Fury, "Thank you Shadow we'd be honoured to join you."

The dragon rumbled happily, apparently quite happy with the name Shadow, and gestured with his head for them to follow. He looked round at his 'pack' who were all ready to head their separate ways and he bowed to them, they bowed back and Shadow raised his head and roared. As one they roared back and shot into the air flying in all directions out over the sea and onwards to the horizon.

Those from the Sanctuary watched their rapidly retreating forms until another roar sounded above them. Looking up they saw Shadow flying above them having recovered enough overnight to do so, Icebolt and Alister were with him and the boy waved down to them, "We'll see you again one day."

They all waved back and Valka called up in response, "Good luck Alister, we look forward to seeing you again."

Shadow and Icebolt gave one last roar in answer and both dragons swooped away towards the north as the Bewilderbeast sent a low roar of his own after them. Those left watched them until they were out of sight and Snotlout looked up at the Bewilderbeast, "Grandfather, can we go home now?"

The dragon king smiled and nodded.

* * *

Drago sat at a desk in a large tent that had been specifically raised and set aside for him until such time as an actual building was ready for use.

He'd been inspecting and uncovering everything he had left to command and found that it was far less than he'd once had. There had been both soldiers and slaves upon Dragon Island working on the outpost which hadn't been caught up in the events at the Fortress. Several ships containing members of his army that escaped the destruction had also come to Dragon Island but even with those fortunate reinforcements he commanded less than a quarter of what he once had. With no artefact it was impossible to create more Titans and Drago cursed the dragon riding boy who'd smashed his most valuable asset. Though he'd lost much of his army he did still have all twelve of his children, one was badly injured but he was confident that Saphia would bring Dagur to full recovery if given enough time so he willingly counted that as a very fortunate outcome, if he'd lost one of his Titans than his rage and vengeance would know no bounds.

For now though he needed to focus on rebuilding, they'd lost most of their enslaved dragons and he was certain that the escaped slaves would certainly seek retribution should they discover he'd survived the Fortress' fall. He would need to ensure he was fully prepared before engaging any aggressive plans but with construction of the Dragon Island outpost underway it would be a simple matter to convert it into a new base of operations.

A light tapping on the canvas over the tent entrance pulled him away from his thoughts and he spoke abruptly, "Enter."

With a rustle of canvas and light steps, Newt entered holding a covered object in her arms and bowed, "Father."

Drago sat up in anticipation, "Newt, you've returned. Was your mission a success?"

The girl smiled, "Indeed it was father. I found the island and what was on it."

"Show me."

Newt placed the object she was carrying down on the desk and it made a dull clunk as it made contact with the wood. She grabbed the top of the cover over it and in one motion pulled it off revealing what was beneath.

A cage containing a Fireworm.

Drago smiled, "Good, now we have more options." He placed a hand on Newt's shoulder, "Excellent work Newt, you have just helped us get back onto our path. With time we will become strong enough to take back what was ours and deal with those riders who ruined it all."

Someone hammered on the tent's canvas and Drago barked an answer, "Enter!"

A soldier scurried in and bowed low as he spoke quickly, "Your Majesty! A small group of ships has approached and their leader has requested an audience with you to discuss a form of alliance."

Drago thought about this unexpected turn of events for a moment before giving an answer, "Very well. Tell their leader that I will meet with him to hear his offer and have him brought up here immediately."

"It shall be done your Majesty."

The soldier was prepared to get up and leave when another question from his king stopped him, "What was this person's name?"

"He called himself Viggo Grimborn your Majesty."

* * *

 _ **PS-Viggo enters the picture and I'd love to hear which crossover this story is heading to though I won't be saying if anyone guesses correctly. Please let me know what you thought and keep your eyes peeled for part two of this story, it will be called 'Family of Iron' so keep an eye out for it. Until then goodbye.**_


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